Ceald Amothien
by wanderingaddict
Summary: During the siege of Lith My'ather, an elven sorcerer realizes just what it is he feels for his demonic companion. m/m WIP
1. Chapter 1: At the Gates

First story here. Edited by bloodychaosdragonknight!

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It was raining.

Miles, perhaps hundreds of them, below the surface of Faerun, water fell from the dark, roiling clouds that obscured the ceiling of the massive cavern. Bolts of lightening flickered amidst the swirling gray mass, causing resounding echoes of thunder to crash through the Underdark.

Apparently the forces of the Valsharess thought to sow confusion and fear amongst our ranks. As impressive as the creation of an underground storm was, it did little to awe those of us holding the gates against her. I sent a mental prayer of thanks to whatever being had given me the foresight to send the drow squadrons back to the city proper in order to protect our flank. Instead of cowing the ones who had never before seen inclement weather, the Valsharess commanders wasted their spells against those of us who had no care for it.

I glanced about my allies one last time, reassuring myself that all was in hand. Eight huge siege golems flanked me at the front gates. Drops of water splashed off their metallic faces, impassive even when faced with a massive drow army. The golems would do most of the work, fielding the brunt of the army's attacks. There was a reason they were nearly twenty feet tall. A smaller, miniature siege golem that still towered over me was under my direct control, ordered to protect me specifically. Nothing would break the psychic bond that bound it to me, probably not even its complete dismemberment. The metal constructs had been given life by the Maker, a demi-lich inhabiting an island far to the east of Lith My'ather, and before his death the mighty wizard had even been able to raise sentient thoughts in the golems, giving them powerful minds to match their unstoppable bodies.

The golems were the armor against the invader's swords.

I was the shield against their magic.

Chanting softly, almost under my breath, I once again checked the arcane wards set about the only other living defenders, Valen and Nathyrra. Valen Shadowbreath was a tiefling demon, called from the planes of the Abyss by the Seer. Unlike most other demons though, he was bound, body and soul, to this world, not to the will of the summoner. Valen was tall, taller than most humans, probably close to seven feet, a little more if you included the curving horns on his head. He had fought a countless number of battles in the Blood Wars across many planes, and a storm such as this did little to awe him. In fact, his only sign of agitation was the continual twitch of his tail, the flared point flicking and twisting about itself, though it was probably more from excitement than nerves. His eyes scanned the approaching ranks, quickly calculating a thousand strategies that should compensate for any change in our own plan. He absentmindedly tapped the haft of his two-headed flail, Devil's Bane, against his emerald greaves as his mind worked.

Beside Valen stood Nathyrra, an assassin-turned-wizard. Clad in black leather, Nathyrra looked more like the wandering rogue than an accomplished wizardess. She had one of her most potent spellbooks open in front of her, for once her tight wooden face and iron will truly suiting the slight drow beauty. Sigils flared off the pages as her eyes passed over them, and though she visibly tensed at every clash of thunder, her stern stance belied her unwavering conviction in the Seer's visions.

Like the Seer, Nathyrra was a believer of Ellistraee. For her this storm, while a thing of awe, was what she aspired to see when we finally broke the might of the Valsharess, and the Seer would take her to the surface...

... and myself? I am a sun elf, born and raised to praise the sky and all its glory. In fact, I probably would have been a druid were it not for fate leading me down a more esoteric path. Sorcery was in my blood, however. Magic had claimed my life early in my youth, and through my adventures my small talent had grown to near immense proportions.

My familiar, a small fey dragon curled up tightly around my shoulder, stared intently at the approaching drow, a low growl emanating from his throat. He was a surprisingly protective little guy. I had to grin at the way such a disturbingly cute creature could be so aggressive. The fey dragon caught me grinning and snorted a tiny plume of sparkling dust before turning his head to sulk. Even that was adorable. Grinning even wider, I reached up a conciliatory hand to scratch the cerulean scales of his neck. Mollified, the fairy dragon slid a little closer and deigned to acknowledge my presence once more. I glanced back up at the approaching army.

With a start, I realized that the rear guard of the army had come into view far, far sooner than it should have for the all the armed might that the Valsharess had been able to call to her aid. Even just scanning the number of siege weapons I could tell that there was no solid force here, at least not one meant to take a fortified gate.

"Valen?" I asked, a hint of worry in my voice. "I thought the reports said that the Valsharess had raised and army of almost ten thousand."

Silence met my question. I pulled my eyes from the legions in red and black armor, searching for an answer in the weaponsmaster's face. His profile stood out in the darkness, his pale, off-white skin glinting where shimmering trails of rainwater coursed over his cheeks. Seeing no answer forthcoming, I turned back to see the array of soldiers before us spread out merge into their respective formations.

"That doesn't look like ten thousand." I observed.

"No," he said, his voice harder than iron. "It doesn't." A muscle twitched in his cheek as he contemplated this new development.

"Where are the rest then?" I asked. If they were in holding, waiting to rush at us our weakest...

He shrugged, unfazed. "We'll just have to wait and find out."

Line by line the archers in the rear stopped and stuck their arrows in the ground, the three great catapults behind them lining up as two scorpions were hauled to either side of those. In my mind's eye I could already see the initial wall of arrows hurtling towards us as the infantry at the front drew steel and charged...

"On my mark." Valen said softly, drawing me back to the rapidly approaching battle, the same strange surge of fiery emotion that raised a tumult of feelings in my chest; fear, exultation, bloodlust, and excitement coursing through my veins at the sight of the drow forces, perhaps two thousand strong, clad in the red-lacquered armor of the Vahlsharess.

We stood, tensed, waiting in the shadow of the gatehouse. I strung my longbow, a huge black thing carved from the legbones of a demon named Assanti. I wouldn't be using it if all went to plan, but battles seldom did. Even as a sorcerer it was good to have some secondary defense to fall back on. Nathyrra crouched, tracing rune wards against projectiles on the ground with a piece of black chalk. Between the power of her spellbooks and my arcane prowess, I was confidant that we could break the might of the attackers.

It was merely a matter of who got the most spells off first.

The army had gotten closer, nearly close enough for arrows to start falling against the shields Nathyrra had erected. Every time one struck the shield a small point of light would flare at the arrowhead before it fell softly to the ground, its momentum stopped. At the first strike, Valen signaled the towering golems, sending the lumbering giants forward to deal death to the dark elves. For a moment, the attackers stilled as the golems drew closer, enchanted arrows flaring brilliantly when striking the spell-crafted adamantine plate of the golems' bodies.

Then the golems crashed into the forefront of the army, surprisingly fast for their size. Mail-clad bodies flew through the air as adamantine fists flailed about, sending the drow scattering in all directions. Immediately, the magic of the drow wizards at the back was brought to bear, dazzling sigils uniting to form massive balls of flame and energy to rain down upon the golems. I resisted an urge to breathe a sigh of relief at their predictability. I raised my hands, more for my own benefit than for any real purpose, concentrating on the deadly spheres being flung towards the defending golems. While the flame itself wouldn't hurt them, the heat and energy of the balls could upset the matricies that kept the golems functioning.

I pulled downwards, snaring the missiles and dropping them into the midst of the drow forces. Soldiers screamed as flames plastered to their skin, rippling rings forming where they fell to the ground, abandoned by fellows who didn't want the gooey flame burning their own flesh. A small part of my subconscious mind was horrified and sickened at the sight, but I was mature enough to know that there were times when my altruistic morals simply weren't viable. I squashed the niggling feeling, resolved that, it was only through the death of some that others were able to live and prosper, and, most importantly, that some lives were more equal than others.

The smell of burning flesh wafted along the gentle breeze that came with the storm. The rain came down harder, fat wet droplets splattering with more force. Thunder blocked out most of the drow cries, but the sound of the metal golems crashing around was still audible.

The five siege engines were close to the edge of the far cavern wall, braced on the rocky hills at the back of the army. Two wicked-looking scorpions were firing rapidly at two of the quicker golems, providing cover fire as the siege engineers assembled the last winches on the catapults.

I narrowed my eyes, removing the distractions of the world and focusing solely on the ponderous machines as they were brought to bear on the huge golems. Already loaded, the catapults launched three boulders across the cavern to shatter against the gatehouse behind me. I ignored the missiles and concentrated on wrapping my magic around the engines themselves.

That the wood itself was warded was their undoing. From across the cavern I gathered the knotted spells in my hands, soft and spindly to the touch. I cupped my hands and gently brought them together, slowly flattening them against each other, concentrating harder, applying greater will as the enchantments fought to resist the now crushing force that was now fracturing their fragile structures. Rust-colored dust erupted from the machines as I crushed the internal winches and levers that allowed them to function. The siege engines crumpled in a spray of splintering wood.

Black shadows detached themselves from the rocks around us, slipping silently across the ground. Intent on my spellcasting, I wouldn't have even noticed the forms were it not for my familiar who flew up, screeching, butterfly wings crackling with energy as the fey creature called upon his own magic. Opalescent sparks flew from the tiny dragon, illuminating a score of drow assassins. Their cover gone, they fanned out in a circle of whirling blades.

Valen hefted his two-headed flail and charged heedlessly into the drow, the weapons master spinning gracefully through the blades and tearing holes in the circle's defense. The air thickened as I brought my hands together in a powerful clap. A burst of will which sent ripples through the air and was accompanied by a sound of silent thunder drove the elves in front of me to the ground as my shield golem barreled into another group. Nathyrra snarled as three drow broke away from Valen and approached us. She drew her rapier and pulled a dagger from her boot, advancing on the three assassins.

One of the assassins rolled away from darting Nathyrra's slice, quickly assessing me as the greater threat. She swung at me, a wide, lazy blow, clearly expecting me to be one of those mages who simply fell apart when faced with physical combat. I dodged it easily, spinning out and around to crack my longbow over her head. The bonebow met her skull with a sickening thuck and she stumbled to the side. Nathyrra was beside me again, opening the woman's throat before rushing back to join Valen in chasing the shadows jumping among the stalactites.

Leaving the first wave of assassins in their hands, I retreated back to the circle of protection and refocused on the spells of the wizards amongst the army. The first thing I wanted to end was the storm. All the water would be rushing somewhere, most likely undermining the walls of the city. 'Or soaking the ground!' I thought, suddenly aware of the imminent danger the heavy siege golems were in.

Casting my senses out, I felt for the skeins of power that would signify a focus, a physical container for the wizards to channel into. I closed my eyes, and behind my lids a vast field of arance magic flared up. This wasn't the geometric web of an orb weaver, nor anything close to what many mages describe as a tapestry. This was magic, the underlying fabric which made up our world. At best it could be described as the cobwebs found in abandoned houses, thick and matted, sloughed about haphazardly, bunched in some places and torn thin in others.

I coursed along the prismatic strands, over the junctions where enchantments merged with the items they imbued, around the brilliant, pulsing points of other wizards, only touching down long enough to gain the vaguest sense of each enchantment's purpose.

I was peripherally aware of the closest golem stumbling as one of its legs got caught in the sucking mud. 'Find it, find the fucking focus,' I chanted to myself. I closed my eyes and tore into the weave with greater force. A series of images flitted through my mind as I searched through the enchanted artifacts in the enemies hands. Spelled swords, swirling flasks, amulets and brooches, puissant containers, the faces of the Archwizards leading the army- wait, one of the flasks! Spinning back quickly, I wrapped my mind around the rune-matrix that powered the artifact. I relaxed slightly at having found it, then quickly turned it over in my mind, analyzing the spellcraft involved in its creation. I placed subtle barbs along the framework, bleeding magic off in waves.

It still wasn't nearly enough to stop the power of the storm. Above me thunder cracked once more and a thick bolt of lightening seared through the air, striking the lead siege golem. Its armor flared red hot as it wobbled slightly, then continued to battle with the drow forces.

I traced small, almost delicate runes in the air before me, concentrating wholly on the flask held in the hands of the enemy command. The rain stopped, and the thunder died as the clouds quickly dissipated with no force binding them together.

Realizing their magic was being subverted, the wizards immediately ceased casting. I tensed, waiting for the next barrage of magic to strike out from the enemy casters. So focused was I on feeling for the next surge of power that I missed the sonorous voice of a duerger woman chanting a paean to her god.

I didn't miss the sudden surge of puissance that gathered just in front of where Nathyrra and I were standing. It swirled and stormed, spinning open with incredible speed. I only needed a single glimpse of the nightmarish landscape revealed within to know what was coming.

"Valen," I called warningly as a char-scaled pit fiend stepped through the rift. The thing was gigantic, easily ten feet tall, with black smoke drifting from its eyes and huge taloned hands clutching a massive fiery blade. It snarled back over its shoulder at the other fiends that were waiting to pour through. My eyes flicked about the field worriedly, searching out the demonic weapons master. A devil, even a host of them, was no match for me, but I couldn't fight them all off and close the gate at the same time. "Valen!" I called again, catching sight of him weaving about in a group of attacking drow. Valen needed only a single glance to realize what was happening, tearing away from his attackers and dashing back to smash his flail into the back of the devil's knee. A resounding crack and the spray of blood and bone told me he had broken the kneecap in a single blow.

The pit fiend collapsed, bringing its head low enough for Valen to swing his flail in an upward arc to crush its skull. The massive fiend fell to the ground and did not stir again. Valen spun about, wading into the swarm of lesser devils that was now pouring from the gate. His two-headed flail thrashed about him, a graceful arc that smashed through bones and armor alike, dark blood pouring from a mounting pile of corpses that littered the area in front of the portal. Both devils and fiends screamed in rage at the site of a demon laying waste to their kin, the bloodfury swelling up in the presence of their ancient enemy. En mass they charged Valen, leaving the portal temporarily free of enemies.

"Protect me." I told the shield golem before I bolted past Valen and charged into the vibrating air that surrounded the glowing gate. I stopped just short of the rift, letting my mouth chant as the diagram for the spell required rose in my mind. Azure runes sparked from my arms as I reached not through the portal, but instead tugged at the strands of power that held it together. The wards that safeguarded my body scintillated brightly as energy snapped free from the weave with jarring force. The threads that bound it together started to disintegrate faster, slipping out of my grasp with a speed that started to snowball. If I didn't dispel the gate now, an explosive backlash would disintegrate both myself and everything near me.

A devious thought whispered in my mind. I grinned, pleased at having found such an easy solution. I hummed a quick cantrip. A luminescent orb of cerulean glyphs arced out around my form as time ground to a halt. It was the most powerful spell I knew, freezing everything but me for a full minute...or maybe I was just sped up compared to everything else. Anyways, I let my hold on the torn gate slip, tracing a single rune on the threads before racing back to Nathyrra and Valen, the world slowly gaining speed as I moved away from the cerulean bubble. Or I slowed down. Whichever.

The cerulean glyphs started to spin slowly, gaining in momentum as the spell wore down. "Shield your eyes." I said to the drow assassin when I reached her, the split second before my spell disintegrated completely.

The gate slipped through space as the last threads pulled apart. In the center of the battlefield it reappeared for a fraction of a second. In that fraction, it felt as though time slid to a crawl as the rift give one mighty pulse, a vibration so loud and deep it could equal the heartbeat of an ocean leviathan. It passed, and raw chaos poured through. The bodies closest to it were immediately disintegrated, the drow further away tossed into the air by the shockwave as pulses of blinding light erupted from the closing gate. The massive cavern was illuminated brighter than day for a moment before it dimmed again, seemingly darker than it had been before. The portal was gone, leaving a smoking crater that encompassed a good quarter of the battlefield. Steam rose from the ground where the rain had been suddenly superheated. For an ephemeral moment, the entire battlefield was halted in awe of the destruction I had wrought. Then an ululating cry from a horn sounded, and the invaders as one stumbled backwards, retreating from the devastation that had wracked their forces. I was astounded. That one brief stroke of luck had saved us nearly half a day's worth of fighting, and I doubted that Valen and Nathyrra were even remotely tired.

The golems halted as the attackers fled. They stood still on the field for a few moments, silent colossi, before tramping back to resume the original positions they held before the battle. All the giants looked the worse for the wear, huge rents torn through their metal legs, one missing an arm entirely and others looking half melted. Two flesh golems, Ferron's other reinforcements, stumbled out from the safety of the gatehouse towers to work their reparative magic on the siege golems.

In the slight lull, a sudden surge of arcane power was all the warning I had before we were fighting for our lives once more.

A bubble of purple sparks flared before us, rotating outwards before retreating to form the outline of a drow wizard, blood pouring from a wound in his crisp white hair, his ornate robes splattered and torn. There was a wild look to his eyes, a fierce cadence to his chanting. There was no doubt among us that he had no thought of self-preservation. His first spell, cast nearly instantaneously, rocked the earth beneath our feet, the second a powerful gust of wind that sent Nathyrra and my shield golem tumbling away while Valen scooped me into his arms and sprinted for sturdier ground.

The shield golem regained its footing and charged forward, only to be halted by a clawed hand that tossed it backwards through the air as though the golem were a paper doll. It smashed into a stalagmite, earthen vines erupting from the ground to wrap around the metal construct and immobilize it. The old wizard was still focused on Nathyrra, who had retreated to the safety of her circle of protection. She was on the defensive, all her will bent on strengthening her shields. Sharp crags appeared over the ground, halted only where the rune-wards of her circle held sway, flaring a dangerously bright white as the destructive energies poured over them. Curved shards of arcane energy shattered against her sanctuary, which, though impressive, was rapidly failing.

A quick cantrip as Valen leapt among the falling stalagmites exposed the wards placed about the drow. My mind ached with the amalgamation of spells that circled about the old elf, protection from spells, wards against disjunction, fury from the elements. Circles that kept creatures away. Circles that kept away good, banished evil, halted simple weapons. To attack him directly with magic would be akin to swinging my bare fist against an oak.

The demon set me down about twelve yards away from the wizard, just outside the circle of quaking earth. Valen immediately spun about and rushed back, slamming into the spiraling wards about the drow elf. I hefted Assanti, drawing an arrow from the quiver on my back. "Servansos," I whispered. Silvery light flared about the head as I drew aim on the wizard. I pulled back, and let the arcane arrow fly.

The arrow flew true, blazing whenever it passed a ward, until it stopped less than a foot from the elf's back, dropping like a stone from the air. It was obvious that he was shielded from enchanted weapons as well as simple ones. I shouldered the bow again and extended my senses once more, prying for a weakness in the mage's defense.

I shifted my weight, conscious of the bonebow against my shoulder, wishing that I could get close enough to hit the wizard with it. Carved from the thigh of a demon, it was possible that a planer weapon could make it through the barrier that kept my arrows at bay. Valen threw himself at the wizard's shield again, testing for weak points that he could slip through. Something about the way he moved caught my eye. There was a slight discrepancy in the way he probed the wards, and if I could just identify what it was... Ah. His flail would pass farther than his body when he slammed into the shields. I started, my brain jerking into cognizance. The weapon, while not demonic in itself, was still from that of another dimension, and from the way it moved through the wards as though they weren't even there, I was certain that it would be the key to beating the drow wizard. I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Valen!" I called, the demon cocking his head imperceptibly to acknowledge me. He had noticed it too.

"Throw it!" I yelled over the din. The demon signaled his understanding and ran forward, nimbly swaying with the bucking earth. He raised his arm and took aim.

Valen flung his flail, the steel shaft glinting as it twirled towards the wizard, as yet unaware of his danger. The flail caught him square in the middle of his back, an audible snap of his spine that silenced his chanting and the bombardment of missiles that had driven Nathyrra to her knees as the circle broke. For an instant, the quacking earth beneath our feet surged upwards, before collapsing as the wizard's spell finally expired.

The wizard crumpled to the ground, flaring magic erupting out of his broken form to coalesce into a hideous, screaming green skull, the size of an ox and wreathed with black flames. My mind faltered as I struggled to piece together just what the hell such a display of magic would accomplish. Then it struck me, my blood turning to ice at the realization.

The wizard had meant to die fighting us. That his death might at eliminate least one of the most powerful defenders. It was a death curse, meant to slay the one who slew the wizard. Meant to slay Valen.

The burning skull arced towards the demon, its grinning mouth opened as though to engulf him whole. I started running towards Valen, who could do nothing but crouch and brace himself for impact as the blaze screeched closer. Unthinking, I darted in front of him, trying to breath a thousand castings into my hands at once. My wards flared a brilliant white, searing sigils crackling ominously as the spell struck. The bulk of the energy slammed into my shields, my world collapsing into a thousand shards as an explosion that I was certain heralded my doom sounded in my ears.

Void.

Lucid darkness that swam through my consciousness was my new cosmos, my body spinning out among star points so vast that I only knew them as the vague boundaries of existence. A fuzzy voice broke through suddenly, sending my new home tumbling off its precarious mooring. I couldn't make out the words, but the soothing quality that it held rekindled nerves that I had forgotten seemingly ages ago. By instinct, my eyes forced themselves open to meet a pale, beautiful face, framed handsomely by blood-red locks. I stared into the vision, temporarily at a loss for words. I didn't know who it was, but I knew that he inspired a feeling of safety, kinship so profound that my hand reached outward to caress his face entirely of its own volition.

His eyes widened at my touch, but he didn't jerk back. I ran my fingers along his lower lip, entranced by the feel of the smooth skin. A fuzzy voice spoke again, though I couldn't understand the words. He crouched lower, and I realized that he had been the owner of the voice. I couldn't help but laugh at the thought that such a beauty would have such a derelict sound. The feel of probing fingers through my hair made me realize that I was being cradled by the man, the angel. He leaned in closer, his eyes intent on mine, as though he wanted something more, something important. 'Like a kiss perhaps,' an insidious thought whispered in the back of my mind. I gasped at the thought of his lips upon mine, my lower lip trembling in fear, in desire. Then his fingers found what they were looking for, the pressure point just behind and below my right ear. He pressed down hard, and for an instant, I had a name for the face above me.

An eternal beat, the pulse of my heart, passed as my new world was jarred back to reality.

"Ceald?" Valen asked, peering intently into my eyes with his own icy blue ones. Dark spots twirled across my vision. "Ceald, you need to focus."

'I am trying to do just that, you damn stupid demon,' I wanted to snap, before I realized just what it was I had been doing for the last few minutes. More precisely, I had been lying in Valen's arms, thinking about sucking his tongue down my throat. I scrambled out of his arms, blushing furiously. What the fucking fuck! I had never had such thoughts about the demon before, not even dreamed it! Perhaps the death coil had damaged something after all. I shook my head, grateful that Nathyrra was already at my side as I stood, steadying me with a hand to my shoulder. A cursory check of my limbs and bodily structures left me reasonably assured that I had collapsed more from the strength of the spell as it hit my wards rather than from any wounds.

Nathyrra grinned at me as I looked back up at her, and I turned to smile my thanks to Valen. I started to meet his eyes, deciding it would be best if I pretended I had forgotten what had just happened, but at the look I saw in his icy stare, an indescribable barrage of feelings suddenly scattered my thoughts. Damn it! Couldn't he have just pretended not to notice? The demon's eyes bore into mine for a silent, impossibly long minute as I scrambled for something to say, before they suddenly shifted to focus on something behind me.

I followed Valen's gaze back through the gates, now open, where a bright wisp was spinning dazedly before it started towards us. The little ball of light sped through the gates, its message clearly urgent. Momentarily distracted, I activated the speech command on the spectral creature.

"Ceald!" Commander Imloth's voice echoed from the messenger wisp. "The Valsharess has flanked us! They have crossed the Dark River and are attacking Lith My'ather! You are needed back at the Temple!"

There was a moment of shocked silence before Nathyrra sheathed her sword and bent to pick up her all-purpose spellbook.

"Well," she said, "At least now we know where the rest of them went."

I nearly sighed. First the thoughts of kissing Valen and now this. Some days things just couldn't go right.

+--+


	2. Chapter 2: Battle for the City

So I decided that the little Lith My'ather in the game was sorta puny to warrant an Empress's attention. My Lith My'ather's a little bigger. Not huge, but still sizable.

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At least the fact that the city was built well over a mile from the cavern that held the walls gave me time to think about what had happened while I was in the grip of my lucid dream. I bounced as Valen ran, still slightly annoyed by how he had rather unceremoniously slung me over his shoulder and simply started running at the news of the Seer in danger. I'd barely managed to tell Nathyrra to stay at the gate, in case the retreating drow should attack again. She'd shot me a deadly glare, but held back anyways when it became obvious that Valen would far outpace her.

Of course, I didn't really want to address what had changed inside me when I first woke in the demon's embrace. True to the logic of the mind though, the instant that I resolved not to think about it was the instant my mind conjured up the smooth slide of Valen's lips under my fingertips, the beauty of his eyes, and, more disturbingly, how _intimate_ the moment during which I had known his face and name but not who he was had been.

It wasn't necessarily because he was male that I was so opposed to it, but that he was, well, _Valen_. A, a demon, and B, one who had more often than not stated his open mistrust of my intentions here... ah, hell, what was I saying? I had just taken a **death curse** for him, just stupidly ran out in front of it, saved his life, and woke up in his arms. His arms, not on the ground, not in Nathyrra's, but cradled in the demon's as he worriedly sought to save my own life. So maybe he did care, at least on some level, and maybe he was an excellent fighter and pleasing to the eyes and funny and smart and all around amazing at everything he did and maybe the warmth of his hand actually did feel quite nice where he was cupping... my... ass...

Fuck.

I really, really did not like the way this day was turning out, and I most certainly did not like the way I was being carried. Well, okay, so I did like it a lit- NO. There's a proper way to carry an elf slung over your shoulder, and this was definitely not it. I gritted my teeth and tried to shift subtly, work my way out from under his hand without too much motion and sling myself across his back instead.

To my surprise, the demon merely shrugged my weight across his shoulders and caught my legs, not even slowing his stride. _He hadn't even noticed where his hand had been,_ I thought, disappointed. I flushed red in embarrassment when I realized exactly why I was disappointed and unthinkingly buried my face in his thick braid. It was surprisingly coarse, not nearly as silky as it looked, but I found I rather liked the texture, the way it- fuck!

Even redder now, I jerked my face away from his hair, desperate to think of anything but him. _'He's just a friend, if that_.' my mind told me. _'There's not a day that goes by that you've ever gotten any closer, just relax. Nothing will happen. Calm down, cast some spells_.' I took a deep, calming breath. Spells, right. Spells. In fact, I had one in mind right now.

Mentally turning the astral runes about in my head, I freed my left hand and made a flicking motion with two fingers, tracing as I murmured.

"Haste," I said softly, already reviewing the subsequent spells that I'd likely be needing in the battle ahead. The sound of shifting energy rang faintly as I felt Valen tense and his pace increase. The demon just ran further through the long tunnel that led to the city proper, no doubt filled with worry for the Seer, carrying me in silence.

That silence stretched on. I didn't feel the need to break it.

The tunnel started to widen, and we passed the two guardhouses that manned a pair of thickly bound iron doors, the city's last line of defense against landbound invaders. They had been ordered left open until it was sure the outer cavern would have to be abandoned. This wasn't the first time that I silently praised the prudence of the demonic weaponsmaster. I had put too much faith in the power of the elements to protect the boundaries of Lith My'ather. Fortunately, not everyone had made that same mistake.

It was always a disturbing change, the passage through the inner gate, moving from the close darkness in the tunnel to the huge cavern that housed the city. The air suddenly opened up, a mimicry of the world above while still underground. A thousand feet above us arched the cavern wall, losing itself in a darkness so thick not even my keen darkvision could penetrate it. Squat stone buildings, the merchant shops of the city, stood flush against the lower entrance of the cavern wall, gradually rising higher and higher to culminate in the brilliantly shining tower of House Maevirr standing guard on its plateau. The tower was a delicate mass of arches and pillared balconies, each level glowing with faerie fire and magelight.

The standard sounds of the city were gone. The paved streets were empty and near silent, save for muted sound of distant battle. We passed abandoned carts and dark windows, the civilians already having boarded their doors and hidden themselves away in their boltholes. We couldn't have been more than a couple blocks in to the city when Valen suddenly slowed. I was about to ask why when a score of drow charged out of the street ahead of us. Valen let me slip down to the ground and, not even slowing, threw himself into the squad, his flail crushing the red lacquered shields of the invaders, smashing downwards through bone, men and women screaming as the demon tore into them. They converged as a group on him, seeking in the safety of numbers the might to halt the wheeling angel of death in their midst.

"_Cortano verdigyama'h_!" I cried, concentrating as white runes flared and collapsed between my fingers. A brightly spinning ball formed in my hands and erupted into a storm of magical missiles, the crystalline balls speeding into the circle of drow. They cried out whenever the energy seared their skin, but most remained largely unaffected save for the burns. I cursed mentally and readied another spell, this time preparing to take out the magical protection surrounding the legionnaires. "_Et sei zi_!" I chanted quickly. There was no visible effect, but my mage's senses felt the arcane buffers woven about the soldiers bend and break.

While I was casting, the weaponsmaster slipped through the guard of a small male, snatching his sword and smashing his mailed elbow into the man's face. At that moment the legionnaires seemed to break, retreating defensively, trying to lead the demon backwards into something. Valen stood his ground, not chasing, simply dodging the small poisoned darts that the furthest back shot at him from tiny crossbows. He wasn't about to be baited into whatever trap the Valsharess's forces had in mind.

His intuition had proven true. As the drow retreated over their fallen comrades, my mind's eye could see the glow and flare of short-lived runes lining the street, winking out as their power dissipated. An elemental trap, designed to bind and break the bones of pursuers. I doubted it would have come close to maiming Valen, but even he would have at least sprained something charging after them. I ran up next to him.

The drow company reached the end of the street and parted more fluidly than water about a man in dark, blood red robes. So, this was the drow wizard who laid the runes. He grinned cruelly at us before signaling his warriors to step backwards behind him. As he did so, I closed my eyes and gave a mental tug at the runes that ran the path of the street, essentially tearing them straight from their moorings. Each sigil harmlessly broke itself apart after losing the strength of the earth that served as its foundation. I opened my eyes in time to catch the stunned expression of the wizard. I smirked at him before turning slightly to catch Valen's eye.

"How do you want to do this?" He looked about to answer when an ugly barbed quarrel sped through the air between us. He started, then turned to face the enemy drow as another barrage of darts and quarrels slipped around us.

Valen scowled at the expertly fired arrows that seemed to divert course just enough to miss us. He faced me with an arched brow. "Your doing?" he asked.

I shrugged and gave him a coy smile, not deigning to answer. It was obvious enough.

Valen smirked magnanimously and gave me a little nod. "Spellcaster. Your lead."

I nodded and turned back to face the enemy. The wizard was fumbling for some sort of material component in his robe, no doubt a bit of bat shit or something equally disgusting. He pulled his hand free, and with a sneer he started to chant, waving whatever it was he cupped in hand in a circle.

His words reached my ears. I strained to filter out the morphemes of magic from his own tongue, quickly identifying the spell and readying one of my own. The air around me tightened and coiled, my ears ringing as the pressure built.

The wizard's chant reached a sudden halt, his spell completed. A bilious purple smoke erupted from his hand and poured down the street towards us. Wherever it passed over one of the fallen soldiers, the body hissed and dissolved, the skin melting off in patches, exposing bones and organs that softened to goo at the touch of the gas as well. The cloud billowed up as it gained speed, obscuring everything behind it in a thick, violet haze.

I raised my hand to my lips, and exhaled a long, slow breath, letting it caress my bare skin, roll over my fingers, and travel onwards, directly towards the caster of the deadly fumes. The breeze gained in strength as it sped towards the vapors, colliding hard with them and carrying the gas right back into the wizard who cast it. I doubted that he had bothered to make himself immune to it. A deadly weapon in the Underdark, where a breeze, much less wind, is nearly unheard of, but easily a double-edged sword. No mage would have ever been foolish enough to try that on the surface.

The cloud passed the place we had last seen the group of drow. Eight were still standing, hacking and coughing as the drow's innate magical resistance overcame the power of the spell. Only one had recovered enough to turn and face Valen, just before the demon hit him with enough force to take off his head. Valen darted off down the street, only glancing back occasionally to make sure I hadn't fallen too far behind.

I followed him down the cross-street as quickly as I could, the sound of swords and mail clashing all around us now. The demon set a brisk jog until we neared the edge of the merchant quarter. Halfway to the next cross-street Valen slowed and stood still, holding out his hand in an indication to stop. I halted behind the demon and watched him cock his head as he listened intently.

"Two groups of soldiers are coming. On either side of this block," he said. It was all the warning I got before a host of the Valsharess's soldiers tore down the cross street. The quickest had already drawn and fired their crossbows, while the slower ones dropped to their knees and took aim. A second wave of bolts arced harmlessly around us and clattered against the cobblestones. A shrill horn sounded and the soldiers dropped their crossbows and drew their swords. I thought I heard a second horncall in the distance and paused to see if I could catch it again.

At the sound of running feet from behind, I spun about to face the second squadron of drow that had doubled back to flank us. We were surrounded. I pressed closer to Valen's back, searching for the presence of mind to cast the next spell as quickly as I could. I knew that the moment I showed signs of casting the drow would take no chances and attack. I shut my eyes and called for the first instant-spell I could think of.

"Cover your ears," I warned Valen, gathering my will into a ball of blunt force, nestling it in my throat. The drow warily drew closer, testing our limits. I coiled my power further, tighter, focusing on casting as much of the spell through mental strength alone as I could. I drew a deep breath, clutching the ball in my mind, seeding it with magic. Entropic energy seeped into the orb, stinging the back of my tongue as I rolled more yet more puissance into it. It was bursting, seething, seeking desperately to disperse. I managed to hold it in long enough to draw the soldiers practically into striking range before the spell nearly ripped itself from my throat. I threw back my head, opened my mouth... and screamed.

A huge, wailing cry erupted from my throat, shrill, keening, and impossibly loud. A bubble of force emanated along with the banshee cry, knocking the stumbling elves off their feet, slamming more back into walls, their bodies striking with sickening thuds before sliding down to the ground. They wouldn't get up again. Blood started to seep from between the fingers of the drow where they clasped their hands over their ears in a desperate bid to block out the terrible noise. The wail faded with the air in my lungs, and I doubled over, hacking and spitting the vile residue of the spell from my mouth. I was peripherally aware of Valen methodically killing the remaining soldiers, easily dispatching the incapacitated drow.

A final dry-heave wracked my body before I shuddered and stood, wiping the back of my sleeve across my mouth. Valen placed an inquiring hand on my shoulder as I took a few desperate breaths. After a minute I shrugged it off and nodded to him that I could continue. Valen eyed me for a moment before turning to move down the street. He set a slow pace at first, allowing me to catch my breath before I caught up with him once more.

We followed the same route the drow had used to delve so deeply into the city. Cries often accompanied the sound of clashing metal now, along with the same shrill horns that the drow used to signal troops. Valen twisted and darted down a side street, I followed to find him contemplating the battle that raged before us.

Drow fought drow in the street as the followers of Ellistraee spilled out of the surrounding alleyways, more often than not locked in combat with the red-clad soldiers of the Valsharess. The battle had yet to cross into the alley that me and the demon stood in, but that didn't stop him from shoving me into a defensive position against the wall. I clenched my jaw as I peered over his shoulder and searched for a group of red large enough to warrant a spell, but the forces of the Seer and the invaders were locked too closely together. Both sides were in constant motion, soldiers meeting in a flurry of blows then breaking apart just as quickly to avoid a hail of quarrels and darts that fell indiscriminately. Flashing spells and the flicker of enchanted weapons striking enchanted armor emphasized the quicksilver flow of both drow forces.

Valen growled. "We can't get to the temple through this," he said irritably. He pressed me harder into the wall as the tide of red-armored troops increased, pushing the surge of white back. The demon glanced up suddenly. "C'mon," he said, scooping me into his arms as he tensed and sprang. I yelped and clutched tighter against him as he jumped from either wall of the alley, bouncing one foot off each building until we had cleared the higher rooftop.

I nearly gaped at seeing the skyline of the city from this vantage point. As often as I had traveled through the Lith My'ather on my adventures through the Underdark, I had never before seen it so spread out before me.

The city of Lith My'ather was built roughly in the shape of a triangle, the temple of Lloth by the docks, the corner of one point, opposite the point where the towering spire of House Maevirr guarded the cavern's northern entrance, and the south gates that made the third. The tenements of the slaves and the poor were built along the black waters of the imaginatively titled Dark River. Though little light did indeed pass over the surface of the water, it was much, much larger than any simple river. It was dark and deep, its turbulent waters serving as a wall in and of itself for the fact that almost no one could navigate them, much less discourage the dark denizens that lived in its depths from raiding the ship.

It was represented by a powerful... thing... known only as Cavallas, which had purportedly sided with the city in its defiance against the Valsharess. Cavallas had introduced itself as "merely a servant of the Dark River," and had insisted that the Valsharess, friendly, lovable woman that she was, had overstepped her bounds when dealing with the elemental factions in the Underdark, and they too, had turned against her. He... it, had spoken with such vehemence that most of us had assumed that the natural border of the River itself would be defense enough, although that no longer seemed to be the case.

It was to the closest riverbank that we headed. Valen leapt along rooftops and over archways with a nimble grace I'd never have suspected the big demon to posses. The streets he leapt over were filled with mixtures of red and white soldiers, but as we got closer to the docks the bands of white started to appear less and less. We quickly left the houses of the merchant class and were soon in the midst of the slave and warehouse district.

The slave quarter had been built with maximum speed and minimum care, meaning that the stylized and ornate roofs of the merchant quarter were missing here. In fact, most of the buildings were missing any sort of roof at all, although it did make a practical sort of sense. After all, with no inclement weather, the only purpose a roof could serve was as security, and who cared about the comforts of a slave?

We were close now. The Temple of Lloth, abandoned in the goddess' absence, was now the home of the Seer, and fortunately the base for the rebel operations. The Seer would be strongest there. Only a few blocks from the Temple the buildings suddenly shifted from the slave tenements to opulent guildhouses with styled roofs and elaborate towers. Though it looked different from this angle, I recognized the blue-slate roof and curly minarets as one of the buildings around the Temple Square. Warhorns blared and the sounds of battle were loudest here. I could also taste the charge in the air, of magic both arcane and divine. The demon easily cleared the last alley and charged across the roof for the spire on the opposite side. Valen hopped up the last couple steps to the peak of the minaret before kicking in the door and striding over to the wide, low baloney at the end of the room. There was a moment of quiet dismay as we took in the scene below.

From the docks to the temple, the streets were clogged with the red-lacquered armor of the Valsharess's troops. Beyond the legions of drow, the entire river was alive with the Valsharess's transport ships.

It was obvious that the attack on the gates had been merely a feint. She was sending the bulk of her army across the river, and worse, it looked like they were making it across completely unharmed. I dropped to the ground and braced my arms on the railing, completely at a loss for words. It wasn't possible, couldn't be possible. I'd felt Cavallas' power myself, any mage could have sensed the elemental strength bound in the creature, which was only a fraction of the power coursing through the river itself. To bind that would require a city full of wizards- yet... somehow they had managed. The invaders had bypassed Lith My'ather's walls, the golems and the tunnel, hell, even the River itself and without a scratch to show for it.

Valen leaned over my shoulder, peering intently at the Temple across the square. I could see that he was working through battle plans again, although if there was a quick way to turn this tide I couldn't see it. With her troops crossing the river in complete safety... that was a major blow. Her army outnumbered the rebels nearly two to one, and on top of that they were better trained, organized, and equipped. It was stunning that the Valsharess could so easily remove the linchpin of the city's defense. I just couldn't believe it.

"Do you think Cavallas betrayed us?" I had to know what happened. Betrayal shouldn't be possible, not for an elemental, but Cavallas was unlike any creature I'd ever seen.

"No," Valen said, dismissing the question. "The Seer would have known."

He had a point. "Right," I nodded. "Like she did with Matron Maevirr." The elder Maevirr woman had been cowardly and weak, willing to accept slavery to the Valsharess in order to live. The Seer had dreamed that she would betray us to the Valsharess on the day of battle so Nathyrra and I helped her eldest daughter assassinate her after the older Maevirr refused to listen to reason. It wasn't something I lost any sleep over.

If not betrayal though, then what? I couldn't figure out how Cavallas had fallen. It seemed almost immune to physical harm, much less the fact that I had never seen Cavallas leave the safety of the River. Nor was it was a pure elemental, so that ruled out any sort of binding, and since it- I paused. Cavallas wasn't a pure elemental. That allowed more than just bindings. It could allow anything, from extortion to psychic... the illithid.

I glanced up at Valen as he studied the movement of the legions in the square. "Valen," I said to catch his attention. "He's being mind controlled."

Valen turned with a startled look of disbelief on his face. "What?"

"The illithid must have found some way to mind control him. Through that they can calm the Dark River enough to keep their ships safe." I could tell that Valen wasn't entirely convinced, but then I wasn't sure myself.

"We killed the illithid that sided with her," Valen said, obviously wondering where the other illithid came from if I was right.

"The Valsharess- the letter we got from her envoy in the illithid colony. It said she wanted more numbers, which means that there are some that were with her the entire time. I'm not exactly sure how, but with the right focus and proper incentive they could have the strength to overwhelm Cavallas, and since he is bound to the Dark River, they could manage some localized semblance of control over it." I thought for a second more, working out the magical logistics in my head. "It couldn't last long, and their death would be certain. The River won't forgive nor forget, but like I said... with the right incentive..." I trailed off, shooting Valen a meaningful glance.

"Incentive like avenging their colony," he said, "and they only need to hold him just long enough to overwhelm the city." He glanced away, his eyes flicking from the Temple to the docks. I could already see him start to tear himself apart over the choice to be made. He turned back to me again. "You're certain?"

I hesitated. I could simply lie, but there was always the chance I could be wrong, and I didn't want to lose Valen should anything happen to the Seer while he was with me in the city. My conscience won out. "Cavallas isn't a true elemental, he's something like an avatar. That makes him different- he has his own desires and will. He may have actually betrayed us." I tried to say the next part as delicately as I could. "She might have been wrong about him Valen."

He didn't flinch and glance at the Temple, but then, he didn't have to. I knew the Seer was perhaps the single most important person in the world to Valen, more than a mother, more than a mentor. She was the one who pulled him out of the madness of the Blood War, and the reason he strove so hard to escape the Abyss. If I was right, and she was wrong about Cavallas's betrayal, then there was no telling what else she had misinterpreted or not foreseen. The Seer could even be in mortal danger- well, greater mortal danger than she was already.

I watched Valen struggle to decide. His mouth was curled in frustration and his eyes were narrow slits as he glared down at the forces in the square. If Cavallas truly needed help, then that was the soundest plan since freeing him would halt the tide of ships crossing the river, but if he truly had betrayed us then returning to the Seer was the better plan. Both options had equally important reasoning behind them, and no matter the choice I knew Valen would wonder if he had done the right thing. I felt my heart go out to him, knowing full-well myself what it was to lose someone so dear to the heart. Watching him clench angrily at the balcony rail, an idea of my own flashed through my head.

"Go, save the Seer," I said softly, placing my hand on his wrist. "I'll head to the docks and find out what happened to Cavallas."

Valen turned to give me a hard stare. "And just where'll you be?" he asked.

Taken aback by his intensity, I licked my lips and took stock of the buildings along the city's waterway. "That one there, the warehouse near the plaza. I'll be there." I pointed at warehouse far along the docks; one that almost looked like it had ramparts on the roof. Not hearing any opposition, I started forward only to feel Valen's hand close tightly around my elbow. Surprised, I looked back up at him.

The demon was glaring daggers, his bright blue eyes dark and stormy. "Alone? I don't think that's a good idea," he growled, low and menacing. I was so startled that I tried to step back, but his grip on my arm tightened almost harshly. That's when it clicked. The hard stare, the anger- this would be the first time I left his sight since I arrived, meaning the perfect opportunity to defect like the little spy I was. Any sort of sympathy I'd felt for Valen shriveled up immediately and I coldly ignored the sharp pang in my heart that he could still think so low of me.

"You know what Valen-" I bit myself off before I simply swore at him. I managed to change my words, but just barely. "Guard your future traitor," my tone saying clearly enough what I thought of that, "Or save your Seer. I don't care." I jerked my arm free with a glare and spun quickly, pulling a coin from my sleeve as I stepped onto the railing. The coin was nothing more than a crude hunk of metal with a child's drawing of a winged lizard on one side and a glyph of prosperity on the other, but it still contained tremendous power. I flicked it into the air.

"_Draconica_," I breathed as I stepped off. I thought I heard Valen call my name, but the transformation was already underway. It only took seconds for it to finish. I stepped off the spire a hundred pound elf. I landed a ten ton Dragon.

The impact crushed whatever soldiers broke my fall. I rolled over to my feet, momentarily adjusting to suddenly having four legs and a tail. Other soldiers were already swarming into the dip my body had smashed into the tiles of the square. Ignoring the chink of blades against my scales I reared back, pulling at the liquid heat that bubbled in my gut. I thrust my head forward, mouth opened wide, fire pouring out over the drow surrounding me. The closest fell to the ground as charred husks, the furthest were living torches. I stomped out of the square, moving slow enough that only the foolishly brave were crushed beneath my limbs. A real dragon would be snapping and biting and clawing, but I wasn't big enough to simply crush everything beneath me and I didn't want to risk the possibility of a stomach full of armor when I shifted back.

Behind me, other soldiers were turning away from their assault on the Temple and I could hear them charging after me. I casually swept my tail from side to side, not really caring if I hit anything. My only intention was create enough havoc to let Valen slip into the Temple, and then get down to the waterfront to find Cavallas.

I flinched as a hail of quarrels and darts were shot at my face. Snapping my vulnerable eyes shut I lowered my head and dug my claws into the street as I launched my great form into motion, galumphing down the wide street in sinuous bounds. I could feel the crunch of armored drow beneath my limbs, soldiers squashed like bugs as I bounded along. It was exhilarating to feel the sheer physical strength of such a powerful creature. I was bounding into a third square, the drow seem to have a love for the open "outdoor" spaces, when I smacked into something t hat wasn't there. I stumbled backwards, my wings flapping open and tail lashing wildly as I struggled to regain control of my limbs. Once righted, I snapped my attention to the center of the square, where a number of hulking figures stood around tiny robed ones.

I'd stumbled into a cache of sorcerers and devils.

They reacted faster than I did. With remarkable unity the quickest mages thrust their will out as one. I only had a moment to glimpse the spiraling whorls of counterspells before there was the tear of disjunction as my spell was torn apart. With a pop my spell was shredded and I dropped out of the air, the faint clink of the coin rolling away sounding an instant before I smacked into the ground.

"_Cicanium_!" I called. Time froze with a burst of cerulean glyphs that arced protectively around me. Safe within my orb, I quickly took stock of the situation. The conjured creatures were already leaping to their master's aid. I could see four elementals and at least seven visible slaadi. In the air two winged erinyes were poised mid-flight, fiery swords raised high above their heads. An army of planar creatures, which would be hard enough without a cadre of wizards and mages behind them.

Right. I couldn't hold back then. Digging deep into the bag at my waist I groped about for the feel of smooth metal. Upon finding it, I grasped it firmly and started to pull, and pull, until I had the entire rod out.

The head was carved stone around glowing amber, and the base was polished adamantium. The damn thing was top-heavy and awkward to hold, made for a person much larger then I. Regardless of its impractical size and limited charge, the fact that it was a Rod of Amplification was still enough to make any half-decent mage drool. Activating the appropriate runes along the shaft, I waited until the golden glow spread halfway to the head when I hauled back and tossed it into the air with as much force as I could. The rod flipped almost entirely out of my time-sphere, freezing with the rest of time once all but the last sliver of adamantium had left the orb. Focusing on that last little tip, I brought my fingers to my forehead and concentrated.

"_Onocomo_," I chanted, activating the rod. "_Anac-suna verdig raunkin. Himilla Atune_." I thrust both arms out, fingers pointed, at the rod. "Multicast: Storm." Purple glyphs and dark sparks flared through the air, sank into the rod and froze part-way through as they froze with the rest of time as well.

Breathing deeply, I struggled to recover the strength a multicast took out of me. Extremely conscious of the ticking cerulean runes starting to spin faster, I slid to my knees and conjured the thickest, strongest shield I could make. Humming softly, I pulled the golden orb as tightly about myself as I could, closing my eyes and covering my ears.

I felt my Time Stop spell wear down. I felt it break.

I felt the Rod erupt.

Wave after wave of force crashed against my little haven. The shield bore it mightily, not even weakening in the slightest. Crouching with my eyes screwed shut and my hands over my ears I waited through the spell. Only after I heard the clatter of the rod against the flagstones did I dare to drop the shield, the barrier falling apart in a swirl of gold sparkles. I stood and brushed the creases from my tunic as I scanned the square. Bodies littered the area, haphazardly tossed about by the conflux of spells. Some were baked and steaming, others were twisted about like ragdolls. There was no sign of the summoned creatures. Maybe they were released on their master's death, maybe they died with them, it didn't matter. A glimmer of light caught my eye. Stepping carefully over the sprawled legs of a fallen sorceress, I found my little dragon coin lying untouched on the ground. I quickly pocketed it and turned back for my rod.

Ignoring the mass carnage and destruction that filled the square, I tucked the amplifier away and sprinted off through a twisting alley. It took a few turns to get to the warehouse that I had seen standing so proudly against the skyline of the city, but when I finally found it I decided that it was more than worth it. The building was tall enough to command a complete view of the entire docks, and it was built thick as a fortress. The roof even had battlements. I grinned at this bit of luck. Gesturing swiftly, I mouthed a silent word and blinked to the top of the warehouse I surveyed the roof and, not seeing any obvious entrance that may cause a problem, walked over to the low half-wall that ran along the length of the roof. I could see the Temple still, in the distance, and vague thoughts of Valen flitted through my head before I shook them out and turned back to the task at hand.

I blocked out the world and concentrated on myself. Like before, at the gates, I dipped into the Weave, although this time I didn't search with any of the same desperation. My touch was spider soft as I slid over the threads, flitting around the clumps that looks nothing like what I was searching for and only briefly examining the ones that had potential. After razing the mindflayer colony north of Drearing Deep, I had a pretty good idea of what illithid magic felt like. Some part of their psychic powers bled over into the arcane powers they channeled or something, because the magic they touched almost... quivered, reminiscent of something that lives in the murky deep, or that slithers underfoot. It didn't take long for my to find a knotted mass of it. I carefully marked its location with my mind and pulled myself free of the Weave.

Scrutinizing the northern edge of the docks, I spied a light that looked different from the lanterns of the boats and had a constant, pulsing glow, unlike the flashes of magic that I saw flickering all throughout the city. "_Hawk Eyes_," I cast, the world blurring as my eyesight readjusted. My spell-gifted gaze focused on the shadowy figures at the edge of the pier. In the glow of the piss-yellow sigils, I could make out three cloaked figures orbiting a limp fourth. The illithid, with Cavallas. Their arms were spread wide and their heads bowed back as they channeled their psionic powers into the avatar. The light from the runes of the circle pulsed slowly with every wave of the mindflayers' arms.

I hoped there were only the three of them. Then this'd just be easy. I slid Assanti off my back and ran my fingers over the worn bone shaft. Testing the string quickly, I kept one eye on the distant figures as I carefully placed an arrow on the string. "_Servansos mia elo'Muerta."_ My voice deepened and cracked as I spoke the rune-words. The arrow darkened and an oozing black void poured from the tip. I drew the bowstring back, sighted along the arrow's point released. The arrow left a trail of black sparks over the city as it shot straight to the illithid wizards on the pier. They continued to orbit Cavallas, until one passed straight into the arrow's path. It froze, its arms still outspread, and then my dormant spell erupted. Red and black energy swirled around the illithid wizard as the necromantic energies tore it free from the focus-circle. It fell to the ground, where it was ignored by the other two wizards.

I pulled another arrow from my quiver and took aim. I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for the next spell. "_Servansos Detenotĕ,"_ I said as I released. One illithid wizard, sensing some sort of danger, winked out of being the instant before the arrow passed though him. The arrow slammed into the focus-circle instead, both spells flaring dangerously bright before the one stored in the arrow detonated. The whole circle was torn out of the ground as flash-fire filled the air above it. A loud, angry cry of rage boomed from the circle as one cloaked, smoking figure emerged.

Blinking rapidly, I was trying to clear the darks spots from my vision when I was suddenly staring straight into the face of a furiously screaming mindflayer. The illithid was just abruptly _there_. It snapped one long claw-hand out and wrapped its fingers around my throat, throttling me as I was lifted straight off the ground towards its beak. It was a terror that broke my courage and I screamed in outright horror. Dropping Assanti, I snapped my hand outward, fingers spread, and called the first spell that came to mind.

A sparkly rainbow shot out of my hand and swirled around the illithid's head. I only had one brief moment to think "_Color spray?_" when the mindflayer remembered itself and screamed in fury, its tentacles spread wide the angry beak rushing towards my face. I cringed, closing my eyes as I brought my arms over my face, expecting to have my brain torn out through my skull. A minute passed. I cracked one eye open to see that hideous beak snapping futilely around the arrow buried in the illithid's head. I glanced down the shaft to find my hand clenching the wood, my knuckles bone white with the force I was gripping it. Anger burned within, and I shoved the arrow as deeply as I could. The mindflayer crackled and garbled as purple blood gurgled out of his beak. Its strength failed and I dropped to the roof, shaking as the illithid weakly struggled to pull the arrow from its throat. The creature burbled as it died. I could feel the psionic waves of shear hatred pouring off of the mindflayer, see my reflection in its big black eyes as its tentacles flailed about the arrow shaft. It gave one last hissing burble then fell limp, the levitation spell leaving it hanging in the air.

Gasping for air, still trying to shake off the sheer terror I had felt at the sight of that screaming beak rushing towards me, I massaged my hand over my throat, trying to get my wits back in order. The illithid's corpse slowly drifted away. I couldn't get over the fact that in my moment of terror, I had cast Color Spray. Color Spray. Seriously, what the fuck was that? Last spell of my life and I cast Color Spray. It's a wonder I wasn't dead yet. Of course, the next thing I did was just as stupid.

My shields were designed to simply divert projectiles subtly away, not stop them, so when I stood straight up into a quarrel's path it went right through me.

The quarrel punched through my chest with a gory spray of blood. I slumped sideways, clutching at where the arrow stuck fast between my ribs, futilely trying to halt the flow of blood. It felt like it had gone through a lung. It hurt to breathe, every second was agony. The only thought that was on my mind was that I was going to die. "_Lavora_!" I cried in mental desperation. I thought I felt some bright presence brush against mine, but it may have also been vain hope. A few moments of agony passed as I futilely tried to staunch the flow of blood. I was certain that I would die there when I suddenly felt that same bright presence above me. I craned my head up to see my salvation soaring through the air on bright white wings.

Lavora landed beside me, a pretty white flutter of wings and golden skin. Well, it would have been pretty, had she not misjudged her landing and stumbled three steps before collapsing on me. While I wish I could say that I bore it stoically, the sad truth is that I shrieked at the top of my lungs and nearly sobbed into unconsciousness. The pain passed and my vision returned. Lavora was apologizing profusely as she pulled back to see what the problem was.

"Ceald!" she admonished on seeing my chest, as though a quarrel in my side were somehow my fault. The templar's hands probed around the wound quickly, before she nodded to herself and bit her lip. I had pulled enough arrows out of my companions to know what it was that she had to do. She met my gaze a little slowly.

I gritted my teeth, focusing on the wall opposite me. "Just do it already."

She nodded solemnly, gave me a brilliant smile, and snapped the quarrel's head off. My world misted to white as my scream caught in my throat, an instant of agony before a wave of healing energy, the bizarre tingle of mending flesh, rushed through my blood and left me awake and whole. Slightly dazed, I reached up with my right hand and rubbed the new skin, grimacing at the blood and holes in my tunic. Huh. I hadn't even felt her pull the bolt out. I tried to give the deva the best smile I could. I was about to thank her, but Lavora seemed to already know what I was about to say.

"Forget it," she said with a small smile as she waved my thanks away. "I already owe you mine right? Only fair to help where I can." She blushed as she said it, her golden skin a darkening flush that stood out all the more for her silver hair.

I smiled my thanks anyway. "So how does the battle look from up there?" I asked as she helped me up.

"I could show better than tell you." Surprised, I brought my green eyes to her violet ones. "Gift of Sight," she clarified, "share what I've seen with you."

That was a pleasant surprise. "Can you show me the Seer?" I asked.

Lavora nodded and brought her hands to her forehead, thumbs clasped in the shape of an eye. She closed her real eyes and the eye between her fingers sparked and then I was flying high above the city. It was dizzying at first, and coupled with the fact that Lavora's darkvision far outshone mine I was disoriented for most of Lavora's flight over the city, but by the time she soared over the Temple I had managed to adjust. The Seer stood at the doors of the temple, a brilliant circle of golden glyphs hovering in the air around her. Priestesses of Eillistraee surrounded her. A huge pulse of golden light suddenly flowed out from the circle and over the faithful in the courtyard, the square, and it looked like it spread beyond into the city as well. I was startled enough to snap out of Lavora's spell. She looked confused by my sudden withdrawal.

"What was that light?" I asked.

Lavora grinned. "Wasn't that neat? With me here the Seer says that Eillistraee's power is near doubled. Apparently I can act as a focus for the divine. That light was the Goddess's gift to her followers. It's really just a standard circle of healing, but it's so strong!" Lavora's eyes glowed brightly from the rush she must have gotten. "It was amazing!"

The deva's cheer was infectious. I sat there smiling, a little in relief and a little in the joy that seemed to spread from her. Lavora seemed pleased with herself. "Is that all you need then?" she asked.

I nodded, still smiling lazily. "Yes, Lavora, thank you."

"Alright, I better get back then. Be careful out there! I might not get to you next time!" She waved cheerily and with a great swoop of her wings, lifted off the roof.

I was watching Lavora fly back to the Temple when I heard a noisy clatter from behind. I whipped around, Assanti held and an arrow drawn back before I even knew what it was. The trapdoor that led to the roof had been forced open. Two rebels clambered out and turned to haul the heavy stone door shut. Once it was shut they spent a moment panting heavily before realizing that I was standing there watching them, and, more importantly, I had an arrow drawn. They both stood at once, holding their weapons at-ease. I almost did a double-take as I glanced from face to face, seeing the same delicate features and dark, ruby eyes on each one. They were twins.

The one on the left spoke first, a little uneasily. "Commander Ceald," he said, "Lord Valen sent us. We broke through from the Temple."

Two rebels? Valen really sent just two drow as reinforcements? I didn't believe them. My eyes narrowed as I peered at them closely. It reeked of a trap. Two lone rebels separated in the fighting I could believe, but not some story that the rebels had actually managed to break out of the Temple. I'd seen the horde of soldiers surrounding it myself. Two drow breaking free and finding me exactly just didn't ring true. Two drow assassins though, clad in the enemy's colors and targeting the leaders seemed much more likely. "Oh?" I said, a little sarcastic. "Two are better than none, I suppose."

Their features hardened. "We were twenty when we set out," one said.

Oh. Sometimes I wish I could jump back ten seconds, just ten, to cancel out whatever stupid thing I was about to say. Though... they were rather convincing. I eyed them carefully, still not quite willing to trust them. "Recite the Seer's Prayer," I said.

The twins shared a confused look, but seemed game. They kneeled, dropped their weapons to the side, clasped their hands in prayer and started to speak.

"Mistress," they intoned in unison, "I would sing to thee but my voice is cold with fear. Even now I do shiver in what is to come and I am ashamed for my weakness. I have tried to play, and I do appreciate the gift you have bestowed upon me, but my lips quiver when the flute kisses them. I pray I am still in your favor Dark Maiden, for I know my position sits unfavorably outside the glade and beneath the ground in the temple of your mother-"

"Enough." I said, cutting them off. "I believe you." I lowered my bow and sheathed the arrow. It was the prayer, word for word, which the Seer had recited to the massed rebels before the start of battle. I dug into my pouch for a quill. Finding it, I motioned to the two drow that they should remain kneeling. "Hold out your right and left hands." They glanced at each other questioningly, and then complied. I think it was then the right twin introduced the two of them, but the moment he said their names I spaced out, distracted from remembering their names by the spell I was casting. I carefully finished drawing a glowing sigil on the palm of each hand. "Watch these," I said as I drew. "These are temporary wards that will protect you from being accidentally hurt by my spells. If this fades," I said carefully, trying to convey the seriousness of the sigil, "You need to get as far away from me as quickly as you can. If I have to cast an area effect, you'll be consumed the same as any of the Valsharess' soldiers." I saw them cast worried glances at each other then, and while I felt bad about giving them only temporary wards I was also uncomfortable warding them at all. It left me very vulnerable should they suddenly turn for whatever reason. Of all the people I'd ever given wards to, which weren't that many to begin with, only Valen and Nathyrra had copies that still functioned.

I pulled a handful of arrows from the quiver on my back and gripped them tightly as I channeled. "_Servansos mia_ _elo'Hasu," _I chanted briefly, before holding out the arrows to the twins. "Here. Each will cause a volley of arrows to fall wherever it strikes. Make them count." They hesitated. "What?" I asked.

The one on the right spoke first. "Uh, we only have crossbows," he said as he lifted the one in his hands a little pointedly.

I rolled my eyes. "They're **magic **arrows," I said, hefting the glowing shafts just as pointedly. "They'll work."

The twins blinked at them. "Oh," they said simply, dividing the arrows between the two of them. Mildly amused, I simply watched them as they started firing the arrows down into the street below. When an arrow almost clipped one I realized they could probably do with a set of shields too. I sank into my power, surrounding myself with it as I concentrated on weaving a pair of fine-tuned shields around the twins. They weren't nearly as powerful as the ones I had been able to cast at the start of battle, but every little bit helps when fighting a war.

My senses heightened from the magical charge that hung heavily in the air, I felt a sudden premonition of danger. I pulled my senses back in on themselves as the feeling grew stronger and stronger. All my instincts were screaming in alarm, howling and scattering my thoughts when the air in front of me suddenly wavered and sparked, and a fireball the size of the warehouse itself leapt into existence inches away.

A half-formed shield snapped into place just as the roiling ball of flame slammed full-force into the building, the heat and pressure of the blast nearly driving me to my knees as I struggled to keep the shield up around the three of us, the strength of the spell riving the entire structure from its foundation. Though I'd stopped the fireball in its tracks, the warehouse still shuddered and tilted, leaning dangerously far to one side, a long, loud groan tearing out of the building as the walls below snapped and buckled. The twins and I darted across the roof, desperate to counter-balance the sway of the building. I could feel that it had done no good, however, vibrations jarring my teeth as more of the warehouse's insides split. It was one of those moments where time seemed to slow to a crawl as we stared at each other, horrified.

The sound of splintering rock and mushroom-wood filled the air as the last anchors suddenly gave way, dust and grit flying up in a choking cloud as the whole building collapsed into its side, spilling the three elves on its roof into the plaza beside it. We tumbled to a halt, dazed but whole, through sheer luck more than anything else. For what seemed an hour we lay there in a stupor, before I suddenly came back to myself. If the Valsharess' attackers had any brains at all they'd immediately be swarming the area, searching for survivors to kill or... worse.

I didn't know how long we had lain there, but too much time had passed already. I leapt to my feet, wincing at the screams from pained muscles. Shit, that fireball must have had at least five wizards casting full force behind it. It had been brilliantly cast, and I wasn't used to simply trying to counter a spell with the mental equivalent of brute force. I quickly surveyed the ruined warehouse before running over to my two guards, kneeling and lightly slapping one's face, then the other's.

"Hey," I said softly, "Hey, wake up, we gotta move. They'll be here soon."

The one I woke first groaned and rolled his head, his white hair spilling across the ground as he rolled over and dragged himself to his knees. The other one, who hadn't lost his helm, was clambering to his feet already, tossing his broken crossbow to the ground and drawing his sword, nervously glancing at the five streets that lead into the square.

"I think they already are," he said quietly, with a gesture that encompassed the three streets still clear of the wreckage. "Come, they'll be here soon." He bent to haul his brother up, taking care to keep his free hand around the unsteady drow. He guided his twin over to the dry fountain set near the edge of the plaza. The drow sat heavily, with a noise that sounded a lot like a whimper.

"Will you be alright?" I could still call Lavora if he was terribly wounded, though that would take her away from the troops that needed her more.

"Yeah, sure, just give me a breather." I watched him take a couple deep breaths and stand. "See?" he said, "Just needed a minute." He managed to pull a smile from somewhere and drew his scimitar. He nodded over my shoulder. "He's almost done."

I felt a tremor of magic at my back and turned to see the helmed twin with his fingers held between his eyes and his face a mask of concentration. I shot the wounded one a questioning look.

"His magic sight," the other brother said by way of explanation. I keep forgetting that most all drow had some innate talent for spellcasting, although only the ones who honed it could do anything with it. I felt the quiver of magic dissipate as the drow's spell ended. His big ruby eyes slid open slowly, then blinked a few times to shake off the spell. He saw me staring at him expectantly.

"Six elite squads are headed here through the Agora," he said. "The ones in red and gold." The red and gold meant they were called Seekers or something. Skilled assassins that hunted the enemy elite. Rumor had it that they used powerful magic to track their quarry and that they killed anything that came between them and their prey. The helmed twin was worried. His eyes wavered, sliding to his brother and back to me. I knew what he was thinking. His twin wouldn't be able to keep up if we fled, and there was little chance of the Valsharess' forces passing him by no matter how thoroughly he tried to hide. Although I didn't want to stay in the plaza, I also abhorred street to street fighting, and I never lost one of my command. I gave in to the twin's silent plea.

"Get in the fountain and stay down." I said as I strode to the center of the plaza. "Don't move unless I fall." When I reached it I stopped and started to prepare myself, mentally testing my shields and finding the important ones still at a satisfactory strength.

"One minute!" One of the twins called. I stretched my arms and twisted, gently pulling at sore joints and wincing as my back cracked. Then a rolling wave of black swept over the plaza. I felt the hiss of enemy magic slide over my skin at the same time I heard running footsteps and jangle of armor. Blind, surrounded, I decided to fall back on one of the simplest yet ridiculously powerful spells in the mage's spellbook.

"_Cortano verdigyama'h_!" I cried, bringing my hands up to conjure a casting. Between my fingers tiny white runes crackled and collapsed to form a glittering ball of glyph magic. It was blindingly bright in the dark. Spinning of its own volition, arcane missiles started to snap and fly off in succession, each one disappearing into the darkness. I could hear the cries of soldiers and the sizzle of flesh as they struck. I decided to up the ante.

"_Cortano verdigyama'h_!" I screamed, "_Cortano verdigyama'h_! _Cortano verdigyama'h_!" A massive storm of magic missiles poured through the dazzling orb in my hands, slamming over and over into the drow surrounding us. Waves of soldiers fell as the arcane energy blistered flesh and tore through limbs. At some point the darkness spells wore off and the plaza blinked back into focus. With mental force I kept the glyph-ball spinning and poured as much energy as I could into the missiles spat out of it. The ball took to the energy as easily as sand takes to water. It sucked at all I gave and tried to pull more. Eventually I simply didn't have the focus to keep the ball moving though, and it cracked and broke into its separate runes.

I held the slight flickering light of fading glyphs in my hands as my mind spun, blinking at the fading orb and trying to remember what I had just been doing. I glanced up dazedly to see a new contingent of drow soldiers rushing into the plaza, except that this time they were lead by two officers in red and purple robes draped over ceremonial armor. The officers were in the forefront of the attack, chanting and casting as they ran towards me. I idly tried to remember why it was important that... something. Something. It was on the very tip of my tongue, I just had to remember what I was doing. I had been casting spells because... my eyes flicked to the glowing sigils wrapped around the clenched fists of the male battlemage. I vaguely recognized them as some variation of spell-mantle, but for him to have those up would mean he was battling a mage or- battle. Battle. Suddenly my mind started working again and I snapped into action.

I thrust out my arms, palms open and fingers raised. "_Eins, Rho, Droe!" _it was nearly all one word. With droe a glistening shield sprang forth just as the two battlemages unleashed their first spells. The woman threw something sparkly that glowed for a moment as it slid against my barrier. The man leveled a rod that shot some sort of shadowy bolt or something, I wasn't really paying attention. This was bad, facing mages that had an army of reinforcements. All they needed to do was get off a few good counterspells and I'd be left at the mercy of the soldiers' swords. I had already used the Amplifier rod though and I couldn't risk being pulled out of the dragon form again. That left only a few options, some that wouldn't do much to even the odds and a couple that were just distasteful. I grimaced as the pink and gold shield started to tremble and bow in under the battlemages' assault. '_Fuck it_,' I thought, squelching my moral qualms. I dug into my bag and pulled out a little runed pouch with a drawstring tie. I pulled it open and dumped the contents, a single obsidian ball, the size of a marble, into my palm. I winced in disgust as the caliginous presence it housed brushed my thoughts. It was pleased to be released once more.

"_Das Vedal Eske_!" I called, releasing the eidolon from its prison. I flicked the marble into the air, where a porous shadow spilled out of the dark orb, blackening as the phantasm inside gained power.

I dropped the shield just as the nightmare emanation reached its full snarling height. To my eyes, the emanation looked like nothing more than a fragment of shadow. In my mind's eye though, I could picture exactly what sort terrifying abomination that I had just unleashed. Yellowed rolls of fat dripping some moist fluid, a dragon's body with the limbs of birds and mammals, lumped into a horrid amalgamation so twisted and terrible that it couldn't be possible for such a creature to exist. That wasn't even the worst part either. Its eyes, its eyes were so much worse. Its hideous, hate-filled eyes that only when one looked deeper did he realize that they held an underlying tone of raw sexual desire, and... that's when you realized what exactly all the oozing protuberances along the creature's limbs were for.

I knew because I had faced one before. I prayed that I would never face another again either. It took a powerful mind to escape the nightmare's thrall, and even then there was no telling if one would make it out unharmed. I had been lucky, extremely lucky, that first time. These drow weren't fairing nearly so well.

The shadow had grown quickly. A dusky curtain had spread over the battlemages, their squadron, and nearly half the city block behind them. The air inside the shadow looked gritty, like it was filled with floating sand, and the drow it touched jerked about unnaturally as their eyes rolled back into their heads, their mouths frozen open in silent screams. Some struggled mightily, only half-caught, but most were beyond hope of rescue.

Whatever the nightmare was doing to the minds of the drow ended abruptly. Corpses dropped to the ground with heavy thuds, leaving a faint hint of... something behind, something trapped in the nightmare's grasp. Otherworldly screams sounded as the abomination's strength started to ebb. It pulled backwards, collapsing in on itself in waves as a dark, swirling vortex started to form where I had tossed the black marble. The last bits of grainy shadow coalesced quickly, leaving only the black marble with the faint glow of streetlamps reflecting on its obsidian glass.

It practically oozed dark satisfaction.

I hesitated a moment before bending to pick the marble up. Something disturbing flickered beneath the surface of the glass as my fingers closed about it, almost coming to life at the touch of my skin. I could feel the delight of fresh blood, fresh screams and sweet release pour out of it. I shuddered in revulsion, dropped the marble back in its pouch, and pulled the seal tight as I tucked it back in my bag.

The drow that had survived had already fled. I was more than a little relieved that they hadn't continued to attack. My spells were starting to become too taxing to cast. If I had an hour or two I could rest and recharge enough that I wouldn't be in danger of using my reserves, but I wouldn't get the time while the city remained a battlefield. I gnawed my lip a little as I tried to recall the quickest-but-safest path from here to the Temple. If we swung out towards the Maevirr Tower, there was the double chance of skirting past the forces surrounding the Temple and picking up reinforcements, but that also meant that we'd have to retreat over the ruined warehouse Surveying the heap of ruined stones that blocked the quickest path to the Maevirr Tower, I was poised to haul myself up over the first ledge when one of the twins gave a warning cry. Twisting around, I glanced back to see a fresh wave of invaders rushing full speed across the plaza. My first thought was something akin to "fuck!" It was along the same line as when I saw the harbor full of the Valsharess's ships. This time though, instead of "fuck!" being followed by dismay, it was followed by anger. Blood-pounding, righteous anger.

I stalked towards the charging drow, electric runes sizzling in the air around me. I was tired of these waves of trash soldiers, of being kept on constant alert, of having to cast every Tyr-damned spell at full charge just to make sure there was no chance of resistance, and I was absolutely sick of having being the target of an entire fucking army while everyone else sat back and twiddled their thumbs. I hunched my shoulders and as I braced my body for the spell.

"_Verdig-raunkin," _I said, speaking deeply. "_Gestro-Hiela_." I drew my finger back to my nose and spun quickly, snapping my arms out to match the flare of power. Huge helical glyphs whorled about me. I drew the focus to finish casting the spell as I targeted the fresh wave of invaders. We needed time to fall back, before more spellcasters arrived to hamper my magic, and if I fought conservatively the rushing troops would keep me in check long enough for their mages to catch me. I intended to end this quickly. The last glyph snapped into place. "Multicast: Sphere!"

Scintillating spheres burst from my hands in concentrated waves. They leapt across the plaza to strike the rushing legionnaires, each sphere crackling with electric might. One alone was not enough to kill, but with the second and third spheres close behind the damage was too great to be nulled by the drow's innate resistance. Each electric ball ricocheted from drow to drow. Those who weren't caught by the first were caught by the second, and by the time the fourth hit not even the strongest were left standing. I straightened as the last of the spheres petered out, swaying a little as my visioned darkened and a wave of dizziness struck. Fuck. Two multicasts in the same day really took a lot out of me. The wave passed and I could see again. I worried my lip in thought, weighing the odds of whether I should try to make it back to Valen at the Temple or Nathyrra at the gates. The Temple was likely to still be surrounded, whereas it should be a clear run to the gates. I thought of the clustered mass of soldiers I'd seen in the square. Nathyrra might just be my best option. The gates it was.

"We should go," I said, turning to clamber over the rubble of the warehouse. The ground rumbled. I froze. I glanced at the twins in confusion. They hadn't seemed to notice anything so I started to climb up the rubble again. I could feel the tremor though my boots this time. Rocks and dust stirred as the warehouse ruins shifted. "Wha-?" I pulled back from the wreckage as debris started to roll from the top. The ground rolled beneath my feet as something huge dug past. I watched the bricks of the plaza crack and split as three converging lines met by the fountain. Stones cracked and the fountain basin broke and fell into the rapidly widening hole. Huge chitinous arms clawed their way out to heave up the heavy umber hulk bodies. I blinked in confusion as one tried to catch my gaze with its myriad eyes. I knew there were only four, but one would blink and then there were still four but-

A shout startled me out of the umber hulk's thought-quenching gaze. The hulks were forced back as black-clad assassins leapt nimbly out of the tunnel the big creatures had dug. They had their weapons drawn and were already raising their swords up to swing down when I snapped my hands up and cast.

"_Verdig-raunkin! Souta_!" A searing circle of orbiting flame ballooned outwards from my upraised hands, flaying the drow around us. Dying screams sounded from their throats, an instant of pain before they were incinerated. I fell to my knees, panting heavily, hardly able to keep conscious. The world was blurring, the umber hulks before me doubling and swirling as I struggled to focus. My spell hadn't had any effect on the creatures. The twins were battling them, their short blades finding the chinks and cracks where joints met beneath the chitinous armor. No amount of skill could match the sheer size and strength of the umber hulks though. It was obvious the two drow were trying to buy me time, to escape or to save them I do not know, but either way their hopes rested on me acting.

Aching and tired, strained beyond reason from the constant spells, I struggled to focus the energy for another casting. My mind was screaming at me, thoughts slipping through my fingers as I strained against the laws of reality once more. Ley strands shimmered into life around the square, illuminating the hulks in a queer glow that bathed the area in an azure hue. I called upon the last of my spells, seeking the plane of shadow, calling out across the worlds for aid, desperate for a response from any of the great planes-walking beasts.

I was in luck. My plea was heard and answered joyfully. The lines coiled about the six massive insects, spilling over them and melting into the stones of the plaza. The creatures whistled and trilled to each other, confused by the spectacle. Then the swirling rifts at their feet tinged black. It had arrived quicker than I had anticipated; an amoral, implacable force that would devour all it could grasp, the air of the plaza itself darkening with the creature's malevolent hunger.

"Ge-," I choked, my throat dry and full of dust. I coughed and hacked, gagging on the syllables I tried to force out of my throat. The twins were still weaving through the snatching arms of the hulk, heedless, or perhaps uncaring, of the danger they were in. I sucked in air past my chapped lips. "Get back, move, please," I croaked, begging for Tyr, Mystra, Lloth, anybody, to hear and get them out of harm's way. I should have warned them that the glyphs protected them from my spells, but not from the creatures I summoned. I could feel the thinning of the air as my spell wound closer to completion, the encroaching presence of something vast, ancient, and terribly alien.

Shrill screams, a thousand echoes of a single fluted voice, erupted through the portals as grotesque black tentacles poured out, curling about the huge bugs so tightly that the chitinous armor started to crack and burst under the strength of the Uldivian kraken. The black ooze of the void dripped from the tentacles, hissing where it struck the ornate stones of the plaza. Two of the hulks had already been wrung and broken; the dexterous arms about them tearing off limbs, feeding a great dark beak that still sounded its wretched call. The other four hulks were struggling mightily with the reaching, grasping arms, latching into the oily skin and burrowing at the thick dark veins that coursed along each tentacle.

The twin drow seemed to finally realize that it would be a very, very good idea for them to get the fuck away from the probing arms that now searched the plaza for yet more prey. The helmed one spun about and ran, quicker than his brother, who lagged a pace behind.

They were fast, but not fast enough. The Kraken had sensed their presence and a host of thick, squirming tentacles broke from the umber hulks to wrap around the fleeing twins. They had almost encircled the drow when I finally mustered the strength to act again.

"**Stop**." I commanded, one arm outstretched, nearly collapsing as the force of the order struck the tentacles closest to the elves. There was a ripple in the air as the Kraken's arms were halted mid-reach for the twins, the leviathan mentally testing my resolve. Inside, I tensed, praying that single command had been enough. It was only a bluff; I didn't actually have the power to stop it again. Right now it was all I could do to simply hold the conduit between the worlds open. The Kraken's strength far exceeded my own, and if it truly wanted, the Kraken could probably take me as well.

That slight hesitation was all that was needed. The twins darted through the last little gap in the tentacles and were beyond the reach of the beast. The Kraken's arms hovered in the air for a moment, before a surge of drow soldiers on the other side of the plaza distracted it once more. The Valsharess had skilled soldiers, to say the least. They wove in and out of the tentacles, their enchanted blades biting deep into the oily arms of the beast. Were it younger, it would have almost been a fair fight, but with age came a maturation of animal cunning and physical strength. This leviathan knew that all it needed to do was focus on the arms and legs of the drow, and once they were caught the Kraken never let go, despite whatever damage it might sustain. It was a method that ensured no survivors.

Distracted by the Kraken's rampage, it was already too late to fight when I felt spellwarding bonds loop around my body. I opened my mouth to call warning to my two guards, but as soon I realized I had been ensorcelled, a beam of light fell from above. Blindingly bright, the beam exploded when it struck the ground, tossing the twins back into the rubble of the fountain as I felt the tattered remnants of my wards dissipate beneath the force of the blow. With my concentration broken, I could feel the last of the spell settle into place, feel the bonds tighten and bridge the gap to the physical world. I was trussed tighter than if they'd tied me up with rope, and there was no hope of me breaking this spell anytime soon, not in the drained state I was in. All I could hope for now was that the Kraken would buy me enough time for reinforcements to drive the legionnaires away.

"Stay back you fools! You only feed it!" a woman's voice ordered, echoing out from beyond the Kraken's arms. Most of the attacking drow were already too deep in the writhing mass of tentacles to escape, but a few near the rear of the plaza managed to make it out past the reach of the Kraken. The soldiers still caught screamed and writhed until the black arms had wrung all life from the bodies, and the tentacles pulled the corpses through the gates to feed the unseen mouth. At least, the lucky ones were killed. The unlucky were dragged through the portals alive.

An anxious standstill ensued as the drow retreated beyond the Kraken's reach and waited for the spellcaster with them to dispel the gate. They needn't have bothered. I couldn't hold it open any longer. The Uldivian kraken, growing bored without anymore fleshlings to consume, pulled its arms back through the rifts and released the bonds that kept the portals linked with the world of its own, withdrawing its indomitable strength from the casting. I grasped at the fading strings of power but I may as well have been snatching at shadows for all the good it did me. With one last, fluted shriek, the long black tentacles slid back into the Abyss, leaving a clear view of the contingent that stood at the entrance to the square.

My last defense had just disappeared.

Nothing stood between myself and the invaders save the two wounded drow, crouched behind the rubble of the fountain's rim. They could hardly stand. I doubted that they would make it through the day. I wasn't likely to either, for that matter.

The attackers moved cautiously out of the smoky haze that drifted along the streets. A series of drow thralls and female lieutenants, marched out into the square, a precise order that must have been well drilled into them. At some unknown signal they parted to either side. A dark female figure strode confidently out of the haze. I'd seen her like before, in the other Red Sisters I'd encountered in the Underdark. The Sisters were the elite of the Valsharess' army, powerful clerics who had rediscovered their divine powers through whatever devil the Valsharess had summoned. I could tell that this Sister here was the one responsible for the bonds around me now. She walked with a loose-hipped swagger, her robe parting to show stretches of long, dark legs and red heeled-boots.

She halted only inches away, towering over me while I was still on my knees. I couldn't even manage a glare of defiance for the red-robed cleric who stood haughtily, smirking in triumph.

"So, this is the rivvel who would think to stand before the might of the Valsharess?" she said in thickly accented Common. She bent to tug my head up towards hers. The cruel cast to her maroon eyes darkened as her lip curled up in a sneer. The cleric harshly jerked my face to either side, her lacquered nails digging roughly into my skin. "Pathetic."

I almost laughed, despite my fatigue. As if the stupid bitch could have ever stood a chance against me even when I had only the barest shred of strength in my body. On the brink of death though I may be, I wasn't about to go down without my pride. Had we faced each other but ten minutes sooner, she would have fared little better against me than the hulks had against the kraken.

She seemed to sense my defiance through my mocking glare however, her eyes slightly widening with fear before she caught herself and snarled, snapping her hand back and striking my face. The blow drove me to the ground. I barely managed to break my fall, my arms heavy leaden weights; they didn't seem to bend as well or as fast as they should have. It was so damn hard to just prop myself on my elbows, to simply turn my head to see the cleric still standing triumphantly over me.

She grinned, her teeth an ivory band against her onyx skin. It could have been almost pretty, in a way, I suppose. The drow behind her had fanned out around the square, sweaty and dusty, looking all the worse for their battles in the city. It made the Sister seem all the more surreal in her pristine robes. She must not have done much fighting herself. Closest to me was another woman, malice glinting in her eyes as she watched the cleric lord herself over me. It seemed that not even her own ranks liked her. Funny the things one notices right before his death. The Sister crouched down, resting on her heels. Her legs slid through the slits of her robe, her skin almost glinting in the light of the two remaining streetlamps.

She spoke again. "Why, male, do you not know your place? I would think even surfacers," she sneered at the word, twisting her lips around it, "would know how to discipline their men." A slight chuckle ran through her troops. They seemed awfully sedate and almost carefree. My eyes widened as a sudden thought popped into my head. It couldn't be possible, not after the loss of the ships on the Dark River, not after I exhausted myself killing so many, but... what if the Seer had already fallen? Tyr's heart, I hoped not. Please, no. I met her gaze again, more than worried. Her face revealed nothing.

"Such a pretty elf," she said, adding a sadistic snarl to her voice. "Such pretty eyes."

She strapped her mace and caressed the blade at her side, making sure I could grasp the rather unmistakable connection between her comment and the knife. "The Valsharess shall reward me well when she finds out that it was I who... cut them out." She smirked vindictively. "You see, rivvel, you've been more than just a thorn in the side of the Red Sisters. You made us bleed. It's time that the Sisters return the favor."

The cleric caught my face in one gauntleted grip, and with bruising force and wrenched my head up. "There will be no quick death. Nor even a slow one. You, rivvel," she said in a low, close whisper, "Shall suffer a very, very... long... time. Years, rivvel." I could hear the vindication in her voice. She was enjoying this.

My resolve cracked as a tiny, fragile portion of my mind quaked at the sheer force of malevolence in her gaze. She pulled the dark knife from its sheath and slowly ran it underneath my neck, never taking her red eyes from mine. I could feel the edge biting in as she drew it along the alongside my jaw. I knew the cuts were shallow, but the fear of where else that knife would go was starting to quake my core. The cleric pulled it back then placed it almost gently on my lips.

"We're starting your training now, rivvel," she said, "And this will be your first test." A dark grin spread over her face as she examined me once more. "Just remember that things go easier for those who cooperate."

The Sister loosened her grip and pulled my jaw open, setting the blade on my lips. Her dark, hooded eyes swept over me once more. "I'm only going to tell you this once, rivvel." She rubbed her thumb over the side of my mouth. "Kiss my blade." A spark of black humor shone in her eyes as her smile quirked. "To the hilt, rivvel."

I slowly took the knife into my mouth, carefully settling it on my teeth and pulling my tongue back from the edge of the blade. The knife was cold and coppery with the taste of my own blood. If it weren't for the spell holding me still I'd have been trembling, waiting for the moment that she'd viciously tear the blade back out. She seemed contemplative as she gazed down at me. "My, that was a quick surrender, pretty boy. Some mistresses like pets that fight being broken. I am not one of them. Too much trouble." My gaze shifted from her hand to her face, suddenly feeling a twinge of self-loathing and... shame that I'd given in so easily.

"Such pretty, pretty eyes," she murmured again, almost to herself, running her thumb softly over the right side of my face. The Red Sister slowly slid the knife out of my mouth and licked it, grinding her hips in erotic bliss as she ran her tongue over the blade. "I'd hate to ruin a face like yours. Eyes like those. Never see them..." she trailed off.

She glanced down again and suddenly tightened her grip on my jaw, her entire face lighting up with dark promise. "Maybe I'll just take one." She grinned, bringing her knife back to my face. My mind quailed and I even managed to cringe despite the bonds of the spell holding me. The Sister dug her fingers into my cheeks as I desperately tried to jerk free, my eyes locked on the point of her blade as she brought it up to my left eye at a sadistically slow pace. Inside, I cracked and started screaming, trying to jerk and away and wishing with all my might that something would stop her, something would kill her, now.

She didn't stand a chance.

Her chest exploded in haze of blood and bone as something green and red smashed into her with such force and speed that it was nearly a full minute before my mind processed the fact that she was dead. The Sister's body lay in front of me, her eyes not even widened in shock, ribs and bloody organs sticking out through her bodice, rapidly spreading blood pouring out from the massive blow that had carved out her torso. I dimly registered the sounds of battle in the background and pushed myself up with agonizing slowness to see what was happening across the plaza.

Gore littered the area. Limbs were shorn clean where they were not outright torn off, puddles of blood pooling among the broken tiles. The mangled bodies of drow, hair pinked by their spreading blood, were strewn about the square in a haphazard fashion. In the middle of the avenue, a single storm of furious death was tearing through the drow squadron.

Valen had finally found me.

His face twisted into a terrifying expression of rage, I watched, enthralled, as the weaponsmaster brought his flail down on an armored lieutenant, cleaving straight through her mace, her skull, and most of her body. The demon dropped the handle of his stuck flail and simply shoved his fingers in the mouth of the screaming swordsman behind him and tore off his jaw. The man collapsed as blood gushed from his mouth, but Valen was already twisting around and grabbing the arm of the next attacker and snapping it in two, mail and all, over his knee. I knew Valen was deadly, extremely deadly, but I'd never seen him move so fast, or with such ferocity. The demon kicked an attacker away and smashed his fist into the open helm of another before spinning back to grab his flail and begin his assault on the drow anew. He was more than just untouchable. He was like a god among rats. Nothing could even slow him as slaughtered an entire squadron by himself.

Then there were drow in white among the drow in red, and the forces of the Valsharess broke rank and started to flee. Valen slowed and stopped, his chest heaving as the army of the Seer set to follow the invaders down the streets. There was a stream of white pursuing red, parting around the huge demon in their middle. The last of the soldiers rushed past me, and I suddenly realized how quiet it had gotten without the sound of blood pounding in my ears.

Valen turned back to me, panting heavily and glaring, his fists clenched at his sides and his flail covered in bloody pieces of drow. His eyes met mine, and I couldn't help but smile from the depths of my soul at him. The demon jerked, apparently taken aback for a moment, then let his lips twitch upwards in a tiny little smile of his own.

A flicker of motion broke my attention and I glanced to see a swordsman in white tending to my dedicated guards over by the ruined fountain. The swordsman knelt by the one who had struck the fountain as he fell, pulling the unmistakable red vial of a healing potion from his pouch. A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I rolled over on to my back, a position where the ground didn't seem quite so cool. The twins would be alright.

Everything would be alright. I could revel in the near quiet, bask in the moment of stillness. I stared blankly up at the darkness of the cavern ceiling, wondering idly what my savior was up to but too tired to lift my head to look.

Valen answered my question himself, slipping into my line of sight. His hair had slipped from his braid, blood soaked his armor and soot covered his face, but never had I seen a sight more beautiful than when he looked down at me then. Well, perhaps, the way that he had torn through those drow like a blender, but this was still at least a close second. Truthfully, I was still in a state of shock. Death came perilously close many times, yet it never seemed as personal, as malicious as what that Sister had been about to do to me.

A heady laugh escaped my lips. The demon glanced down at me, surprised again. It was so strange, to laugh then, but I just couldn't help it. It was somewhat breathless and probably a tad hysterical, but it felt so damn good to suddenly release all the tension I hadn't known I'd been holding in.

I grinned, meeting Valen's eyes. "You're something else Valen, you really are." My voice was warm, though only part from admiration. "I don't think that I've ever been more terrified in my life. Fuck," a shudder ran through me at the thought of the Sister and her... pets. "Scariest thing that ever happened to me." I laughed, a little self-deprecating.

His face fell slightly, a flash so quick that I'd almost thought I'd mistaken it. Puzzled, but too tired to bother to think, I continued to simply stare up at him. The demon shifted uncomfortably, before he started and kneeled down beside me, pulling several small healing vials from the pouch at his side.

"You aren't injured, are you?" he asked, eyeing the blood that had soaked the front of my tunic. I doubted that my pants were much cleaner. I shook my head.

"None of it's mine," I said, "At least, none of the recent stuff. Lavora caught me at some point." Had it been only an hour ago, or more perhaps? The battle seemed so blurry now.

Valen was scrutinizing me again, that way that made me feel so naked beneath his sight. Had I the energy, I'm sure I would have started squirming. As it was I could only watch him, and silently wish that the sharp pebble that was jamming into my side would somehow go away. I held my breath for a moment. Nope, still there. I flinched as I felt Valen's hands start to prod and poke, checking for injuries and broken bones. Seemingly satisfied, he grabbed one of the smaller potions from the ground.

"Can you walk?" he asked, holding the little vial to my lips. I dumbly opened my mouth and drank the elixir, wincing at the tingle that shot through my body, repairing a myriad of bruises and aches I hadn't even realized I had gotten. I'd have to remember to thank him later. Tomorrow would have been an awfully sore day if he hadn't thought to give me the potion.

However, potion or no, continuous spellcasting of some of the most destructive magic I knew had exhausted the nerves throughout my entire system. I wouldn't be moving on my own accord any time soon. I gave him a wry grin. "I doubt it... I think I was a little too zealous with my spells."

Valen frowned worriedly. "You didn't rebound did you?" he asked. A rebound is what happens to mages who over-extend themselves. It tends to happen more often to sorcerers than wizards, since all they need is the will versus the focus to keep a spellbook memorized. The mage essentially uses up too much energy, even on the most basic level, the kind that keeps us conscious, and can spend the next few days with anything from about a hangover to painful, nerve-wracking spasms so bad most would rather die then ever go through them again.

"No, 'm just tired." I said, wracked by a sudden yawn. Shit, I didn't even have the energy to stay awake, much less make it back to the temple. Well, it wasn't so bad, I guess. The plaza tiles were starting to feel mighty comfortable, even where sharp rocks were pressing into my back.

"What, are you going to just sleep there?" I heard him ask. Heh, I hadn't even realized I'd closed my eyes. I opened them and stared up at him, arching one blond eyebrow. Valen simply stared back, unperturbed, as always. It suddenly struck me then, just how... how _Valen_ it was to save me from the brink of a fate worse than death in a whirlwind of blood, bone, and gore, then just nonchalantly act like nothing much had happened at all. My lips twitched in a smile.

"Well, unless you feel like carrying me, yes, I am." I closed my eyes again, dismissing him. The sooner I regenerated, the sooner I could work out all that had happened today. Pointy rocks or no, battle or no, Reverie was the only thing I could manage right now, and besides, I was no use to anyone in this state.

Only vaguely aware of hands slipping under my knees and back, I didn't even think anything of it until I felt a sudden rush of vertigo as I was hauled up and tucked against a solid breastplate. I opened my eyes and groggily glanced up at who had just lifted me.

"Valen?" I asked, startled.

"What?" He looked a bit sheepish as his face started to flush. "Did you really think I was just going to leave you there?"

I stared at the demon for a moment before suddenly I grinned at him, ecstatic joy welling upwards in my heart. It was stupid, there was no real reason to feel so happy just because it was Valen who rescued me, but... everything just was so much better now that I had him back.

A part of me was startled by how quickly I sank into the shield of his body, but I chose to pass it off as sheer exhaustion rather than any sort of... you know. I buried my face into the slightly softer part of his armor, the place where the plate jointed and padded leather stuck out. Valen was talking to me, indistinguishable words in the distance. I didn't want to slip into Reverie so soon, not when the battle had just been won, not when I was... in Valen's arms, not when I actually wanted to enjoy this...

My lids were just so heavy though, and the demon had such a wonderfully warm, comforting, heat that poured off of his body, and the rhythm of his stride was so soothing...

Asco's blood, I could just sleep forever...

--+--

heh, in case you were wondering, "verdig" is a power word Ceald uses to charge his spells. "servansos" he uses to activate his arcane arrows, and "raunkin" he uses to call any of the elements into being.

yeah, I'm a nerd.


	3. Chapter 3: The Aftermath

--+--

--+--

The first thing I noticed was that half my face was pressed into something warm and smooth. It was soft and felt odd when my lashes fluttered against it. Not to say it didn't feel nice though. I moaned a little as a dull, throbbing ache started to set in my head and nuzzled my nose against the –_skin_-

My eyes snapped open. I discovered then that I was not tucked away in my bed, but lying curled in a pair of long, strong arms. The skin that I had been nuzzling was the dull, pale-white skin of some human's neck. '_Not a human_,' I thought distantly. The man's chest was a lulling rise and fall of deep, even breaths. It made it hard to think. My eyes drifted shut and I felt Reverie start to pull again, its gauzy touch sinking far into my mind. '_The man… Valen…_' I realized as I peacefully let go of conscious thought.

Darkness. Stormy blue eyes. –_Valen_-

I jerked awake, my heart pounding as a pair of startled hands hovered protectively against my left side. "Ceald?" I heard Valen ask as he tried to tilt his head to see if I was awake. The problem he had was that he didn't seem to want to jostle me if I wasn't awake, so he couldn't really move from the wall he was resting against. The problem I had though, was wondering just what the fuck I was doing cradled in his arms. Again.

Again… with that thought, I remembered. It wasn't shocking, or sudden. It simply sort of ballooned up in my head, like a gentle wave of heat. The portal, the kraken, the mindflayer. Lavora, and Valen's angry grip. The Sister. Valen saving me, Valen lifting me up as I sank into exhaustion. Something inside me started to relax, and I felt the tension drain out of my limbs.

"Hey," I said quietly. My mouth was dry and my throat was sore, and I was still wearing the same blood-soaked tunic I'd been wearing earlier. Valen had, thankfully, shed his plate at some point and was clad only in his leather jerkin and pants. He was leaning back against a portion of the wall that looked a little smoother, glossier than the rest of it.

I felt the demon shift and stretch tired muscles now that he knew I wasn't in Reverie anymore. "So you are up," he said as he cracked his back. I grunted something non-committal, ignoring his annoying stretches. Once he stopped moving I settled my weight against his chest, blinking heavy eyelids a tad owlishly. My thoughts still thick with exhaustion, it took a while to shake off the disjointed memories of Reverie and really start to realize the fact that I was laying in the demon's lap, his arms clasped around my back and over my knees, my cheek resting partway on his tunic and partway over the bare skin at his neck. I closed my eyes again. It was nice. Really, it was. I hadn't been held like this in… gosh, ages. The longer I lay though the more awake I seemed to be.

Sighing, I opened my tired eyes and glanced around. The room was roughly square, richly decorated with finely woven rothe-hair rugs and faint bas-reliefs carved in the walls. Glow shards shown brightly in cleverly placed crevasses that helped diffuse the harsh glow of the crystals' light. A huge, dark spider was outlined in stone on the floor, but given the drow penchant for the creatures it didn't really help to identify the place. "Where are we?" I asked.

Valen cleared his throat. "This is a vestibule of the Temple. Parishioners waited here for blessings before the Silence."

I thought about that for a moment, and decided that answered nothing. "Why here though?"

"Well," Valen said, "This was closer than the Tower. With the army surrounding us now I figured it would be safer too, and, you know…" Valen trailed off with a shrug. "By the time I did get here you were out so deeply that I thought it might be better to stay and rest than carry you back across the city."

Huh, that was sure nice of him. "How long was I out?"

"It's been almost three hours." I groaned. Three hours, ugh. That wasn't nearly enough time to get recharged, and at the same time too much to fall back into Reverie. I rubbed my hand across my face as I yawned. That yawn sparked my own full-body stretch, twisting and wincing as sore joints popped. I didn't move to stand up though. Valen's body radiated a soothing heat that felt amazing where I was leaning against him. Sort of like holding a hot bowl full of porridge on a cold winter day, only the porridge is a big, sexy demon and I wanted to wrap myself up in him and-

Um… yeah. Back in reality, were demons did not take advantage of one's weakened state and ravage him sexually, the logic side of my brain was thinking about the fact that Valen was a fucking dick. Pride demanded that I tell him off and leave, that I stop mooning over someone who didn't even trust that I wasn't some filthy spy, and I didn't even know whether he even liked boys too. Still… pride doesn't keep one warm at night when he's feeling lonely, not the way a memory like this can.

The desire to stay and pretend warred with the urge for retribution. "Heh," Valen said, breaking the inner turmoil I was feeling. "A dragon landing in the midst of them was quite a distraction. I didn't know you could do that."

So we were back on friendly terms huh? I could live with that. The kind part of me combined with my desperate loneliness to squash pride back down in its place. "Oh," I shrugged, a small smile tugging at the edge of my lips. "I gotta keep at least one trick or two up my sleeve. Never know when I might have to do something unexpected."

"Just don't use any of those tricks on me." I could hear him smile. "That dragon looked pretty tough with all those spikes on him. You add those?"

I shook my head. "Nope, that's what a red dragon looks like. Scale for scale," I punned. Valen whistled.

"So a true polymorph huh?" I nodded against his chest. "Wow. I wouldn't want to face that. Even if it was a pint-sized one," he added with a laugh. I dug my elbow into his gut, which only made him laugh harder even as he cringed.

I huffed, using the motion to surreptitiously rub my arm. Tyr's heart, that was like hitting a tree. "At least I got things done. What'd you do after you ran under the Seer's skirts?"

"You mean after you ditched me?" Valen corrected.

"You deserved it," I muttered. That quieted him for a moment.

"After you stomped out of the square," he said after the silence got a bit too long, "I made a break for the gates. It was easy enough to get up and over." Valen paused. "The Seer was fine," he said lightly, but he seemed like he was unsure of how he felt about that. "With Imloth, we lead a counter-charge and reconnected with the Tower and the barracks there. That freed the companies tied up in the rest of the city too. The priestesses did wonders keeping the rebels alive. I saw Lavora helping out as much as she could too. She must have exhausted herself; by the end of the battle I saw her fly smack into a wall." I choked back the snorting laughter that tried to escape at that image.

"I don't think it's 'cause she was tired," I said, trying to keep my grin as small as possible. "Was she okay?"

"Oh, yeah. A little dazed maybe," The mirth in his voice was obvious. "I saw what happened to the ships on the river," the demon added suddenly. "Was that you?"

I shook my head, not knowing what he was talking about. "No, it must have been Cavallas. What happened?"

"The whole river erupted," Valen said. "The ships started sinking one after the other, as if the water simply opened up beneath them."

Ah, the wrath of an avatar. "I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Cavallas was mad," I said. "The illithid were controlling him with a focus circle. I don't know how they caught him in the first place, but when I destroyed the circle he was already shrieking in rage. He must have known what was happening while they subdued him."

Valen was quiet again. "So you were right, then," he said softly, his tone almost making it an apology. I didn't say anything. I didn't really know how to respond.

At a loss for words, I kept my mouth shut and withdrew into myself, ignoring the feel of Valen's hands by my waist. My head still ached, but it was nothing compared to times I'd exhausted myself before, and with my head still leaning against Valen's chest I was lulled back into the same half-awake state I'd been in earlier. Like most true warriors, the demon took long, deep breaths from the center of his body. The rhythmic motion was calming. '_I could get used to this' _I thought, and immediately regretted it. My ever-present pride reared up again, chastising me for thinking like some sort of weak-willed, pathetic… pathetic something. Whatever I was, it wasn't pleasant, because I knew my pride spoke true. A twinge of self-loathing welled up in my gut that I, Ceald Amothien, Hero twice over, Archmagus in all but name, was resorting to _pretend_ with a demon who guarded himself so carefully that I could never get close, much less even stood a chance with, given Valen's quicksilver opinion of me.

Still … was pretending so bad? Everyone has their own daydreams, half-thoughts, and the lies that they tell themselves to get through life. I subtly shifted back so my eyes could flick up over the demon's profile.

Valen's eyes were blank, obviously lost in thoughts of his own. He had rebound his tight braid as well, the thick red and copper hairs pulled back into order once more. It wasn't the most appealing thing he could do with it, but then it didn't exactly detract from his masculine beauty either. His face was smooth and unlined, with high, straight cheek bones that made him look contemplative and noble. The demon's nose was unbroken, and his lips were just shy of full, made less generous by the serious countenance he bore. He hardly even looked like a demon, with an easy jaw line that was at the perfect point to keep his features from being too large, but also kept them from appearing too delicate. Even the parts that showed his heritage only served to augment his handsomeness. He had a pair of dark tiefling horns that jutted out from his forehead and arced back over his skull, and snow white skin that grayed and darkened nearly to black wherever the tinge of his blood color shown through. Features that he must have hated, given the fact that they practically screamed hellspawn, but reality was that they really only made him more… exotic. Something to be treasured.

I looked away from his face, thinking about the deeper reasons that I found Valen so attractive. Beauty was only skin deep, after all, and I wasn't some idiot who could fall head over dick for a pretty face. At least, I hoped I wasn't. The demon wasn't only attractive physically though. He was smart, with a keen intelligence that sometimes showed some amazing insights into the world. He had the same wry sense of humor that I did. He was intensely loyal, and capable, and… the list could go on, but the point was that I actually liked him, liked being around him. And I hadn't really felt that about anyone since- since years ago.

Was it so wrong then, to fall for a guy that I found so amazing? I thought for a moment. No, I decided. It wasn't wrong to be attracted to someone, nor to place them in a sexual fantasy. An image of me laving my tongue across his neck, maybe sinking my teeth in a little, made my mouth water with lust. No, it definitely wasn't wrong to fantasize about the demon. Not so long as I stayed strong, kept my heart hard and never let anyone in too far; and no, it wasn't because I was full of some inner pain that no one else could understand. It was because the people that I did let in, the ones that I felt I could love, inevitably all let me down and died. Master Boromir succumbed to plague. Then Beth, so strong and bright, had fallen and abandoned me for some empty promise to a weak old coward. Even Master Drogan, who was more of a father to me than anyone else I'd ever known, wasn't strong enough to live for me… but that's where the dilemma lay, didn't it. They fell because I was powerless to save them, yet I was hardly strong enough to protect myself. How could I hope to protect anyone else too?

After all, without the adrenaline, without the rush of blood pounding in my ears, jumping off the minaret earlier was just half-brained and stupid. I was one lone mage, yet I still charged blindly into the center of Valsharess' forces and all that had gotten me was bound and captured. By rights, I should be dead now. Well, that, or a play thing. The memory of the Red Sister's blade sliding past my lips made my stomach roil in revulsion. She'd wanted to take my eyes too. I shuddered at the thought of a life of darkness. That was more than stupid, facing an army by myself. If it hadn't been for Valen-

If… if it hadn't been for Valen. He had saved my life. Not in the everyday sense, like jerking you back from a trap you'd been just shy of activating, or killing the man about to gut you from behind. That was just what you did on a mission; watch out for your fellows, because they did the same for you. No, this was the kind where the knight in shining armor rides in and, with a smile and a wink, rights the world once more. Well, maybe it hadn't been quite that extreme, but I remembered seeing the demon slam into the Sister, remembered the snarling fury during and the easy nonchalance after. If that didn't make a valiant knight, then I don't know what did.

Wait- if Valen was a dashing knight that made me the helpless love interest. I tried to scowl and smile at the same time, which ended with my mouth twisted in a strange grimace. I saw Valen look down at me from the corner of one eye, expecting me to share, but I waved it off. "Say, Valen," I said, still grinning a little. "How did you find me?"

His gaze dropped to mine. "I figured I just had to follow the trail of bodies," he deadpanned. I stared up at him until he gave up and rolled his eyes. "Ceald, you only picked the tallest building on the docks, remember? It's not that hard to notice, especially when it's the center of a massive explosion." I sniggered as his tone got sarcastic towards the end. I had to grin. Ask a stupid question I guess. "After I saw that it was a smoldering ruin I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if you were in trouble," he added.

Surprised, I blinked at him. "But… why?" I asked incredulously. The demon had been _mad_ at me.

Valen glanced away, at something else in the room. He looked like he was having trouble finding what to say. "It's my duty," he said with a shrug, "I promised the Seer I'd protect you."

Oh, right. My heart sank a little, even though I expected an answer like that. Dejected, I looked down at my hands and thought about getting up to leave. "Besides," I heard the demon say, almost hesitantly, "It's what friends do right?"

Shock jerked me upright. I stared at him, utter confusion in my head. Valen, taken aback by my reaction, stared too. All I could think about were all the times he had emphasized, over and over, on our missions that I shouldn't be trusted, that I needed to be watched, that I shouldn't be left alone. My jaw quirked a couple times before I finally managed to ask, "We're friends?"

The demon, flustered, searched for words. "Uh- um, can we be?" He smiled weakly. I scrutinized him, not sure how to reconcile this new side of Valen with the old. It was only after I saw the hint of uncertainty in his eyes that I realized that maybe he was trying to change things too. Maybe this was him trying to rectify the past and extend his own hand in return.

It softened something in me. "Yeah, sure Valen," I said as I relaxed again. "I'd like that." Just then something in my back twitched and I flinched as a spike of pure agony shot up my spine.

"What's wrong?" Valen asked, concern written on his face.

"My back," I groaned through clenched teeth. The slightest shift in weight made something in my lower back shriek in protest. It hurt to even twist my free arm back to rub at it.

"What?" Valen asked. One could practically feel the disbelief dripping from his voice.

"I did fall off a building you know," I snarled at him. "Twice."

The demon paused, and I felt his hand on my back. "Some nerve must have gotten twisted then. Want me to check?"

I nodded. Valen knew a surprising amount about pressure points and the body. At least, him looking couldn't hurt any. I turned away from Valen and gingerly lowered myself from his lap to the floor, leaning forward against my knees. Figuring it would be easier without my crusty tunic, I pulled the pulled both it and my cotton undershirt over my head and tossed them to the side.

"You- don't have to…" Valen stammered.

"Oh?" I hadn't thought the demon would be uncomfortable over that. "Sorry," I said, looking distastefully at the blood-soaked rag. I wasn't keen on wearing it again, but I reached for it anyway.

"It's fine," Valen said as he put his hands on my shoulders. His fingers were warm, really warm, almost hot. He dragged his hands down my back a few times, leaving tingling trails of heat. Taut muscles relaxed as the unconscious tension was forced out of them. I sighed and leaned deeper into the kneading thrusts, enjoying the demon's work immensely. Every pass he made felt like it was shifting something inside me. After the sixth time I felt it I had to ask.

"How are you doing that?" The strange, cathartic sensation was building.

"It's… I don't know of the word in Common. It's my _reiki_." The demon's hands slid down my spine. His fingers dug into my sides and he pushed his thumbs into the knots under my shoulders. "We all have this dormant energy in our bodies," he explained as I fought not to tense against the soothing pain, "That flows through us and keeps us connected to the rest of the world. With practice, an adept can master his own energy and use it to augment his own abilities," Valen punctuated his words with kneading thrusts from the base of his palms. All the muscles he touched were slowly turning to jelly. If I wasn't in love with before I surely was now. It was all I could do to keep from moaning every time his fingers smoothed over an overworked tendon.

"There are few healers, in the Blood Wars," the demon continued. "True healers are rather hard to come by in the Hells. Commanders have to utilize other tactics then." Valen stopped to think for a moment, silently working his knuckles against the base of my neck. "Well, at least the ones who prefer not to use mindless legions," he added as an afterthought. "Anyway, a soldier must then learn to use conventional methods."

"And so thralls are taught to give massage?" I teased as his fingers worked their way down my back once more. He laughed and worked at a crick on my arms.

"Not exactly," he said, with mirth in his voice again. "My master wanted me to train under a powerful guru so that I could serve him unarmed if need be. I just made sure to learn all the beneficial aspects too, and not only the ways to kill." Wrapped in bliss, I was only half-listening to his story. I was about to ask more when his fingers grazed over a painfully tight spot at the base of my spine.

"Can you feel that knot there?" He asked as his fingers prodded. I cringed and twisted, nearly whimpering with exquisite pain. Valen rolled his fingers out over it and grasped my hips. "It's tense," he said, rather unnecessarily. I _knew_ it was tense, _I_ was the writhing in agony. I felt him brush over the center of the knot, and that's when he dug his thumbs in.

Lancing spikes of raw agony shot up my spine as my hips bucked and twisted against Valen's hands to get away. I could hardly breathe, my vision misting black as the demon only gripped harder to stop me from moving. My feet slipped on the floor as I scrambled to get the leverage to pull myself free. Just when I thought I was going to start sobbing I felt something pop and shift back into place. The searing agony faded in a flash, leaving only cool tingling in its wake.

I was panting heavily, my hands behind me, clutching Valen's wrists. My feet were half-under me, my butt on my heels and my shoulders braced back on Valen's chest, which put me high enough to feel his cheek brushing mine. Intensely aware of the contact, I was nearly paralyzed by the _intimacy_ of the position.

The demon cocked his head, rubbing his face against my skin. "Better?" he asked.

"Yeah," I managed, hardly able to keep myself from tilting my cheek into his once more.

Drawing a shuddering breath, I willed myself to push away from Valen. Asco's blood, leaving the feel of his warm skin on mine was a hard thing to do. I tried to disguise my nervousness with a roll of the shoulders and a twist of my back. Tyr's heart, I hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. "Thanks," I said, looking over my shoulder at the demon. I was about to add more when his ice-blue eyes met mine. Frozen by the look I saw in them, I stared as his gaze flicked down my back and back to my eyes.

"Anytime," he drawled.

Unsure of how I should take that,; I flushed and rose to my feet. I cast about for something else to say when Providence smiled on me. I felt the light bond of my familiar grow stronger. "Oerth?" I called.

I heard a faint cry as one of the doors swung open, Nathyrra striding through with the fairy dragon curled in her arm.

"Oerth!" I cried joyfully, holding my hands out to him. Oerth launched himself out of Nathyrra's arms, chittering excitedly. I caught him around his little scaly body and hugged the fey creature tight, nuzzling the dragon's face as my fingers scritched all the right places. My familiar wiggled about excitedly, but he quickly tired of the scratches and scrambled up my arm to perch on my shoulder, wrapping his tail possessively around my neck. I cooed fiercely at him and pretended to bite his head until I realized Valen and Nathyrra were still standing there, watching me.

Blushing furiously, I cleared my throat and looked away from their amused grins. "Glad you made it through," I said to Nathyrra, smiling as I added, "Not that there was ever a doubt. What happened at the gates?"

Nathyrra shrugged. "You were right," she said, "They attacked again. With the siege golems there though the odds were pretty even." The drow assassin pulled something from around her neck. "Thanks for this, by the way," she said as she held it out to me. "Pulled me through some awfully close spots."

Confused, I held out my hand to see what it was. Nathyrra dropped it into my palm and I held the medallion up to the light. The heavy bronze disc was decorated with a grinning skull, its ruby eyes glinting softly. "My golem?" I asked. I didn't even remember giving the control amulet to her.

"Yeah, he's being looked at by Ferron's golems now," Nathyrra said, misinterpreting my question. "The gates weren't nearly as exciting as the city. Least, from what I gather." Her garnet eyes sparkled. "So tell me, what did you do to worry Mother Seer so? She said Valen's been hovering over you since he carried you in."

My eyes flicked over to Valen in surprise. The demon was studiously wearing his "say what you want because I'm not listening" face. "Uh," I said, searching for the right words to say, "Valen and I got separated." I decided to be generous and not delve into specifics. "Cavallas was enscrolled by some illithid wizards, that's how they were able to cross." Nathyrra nodded attentively, as I continued, "After I freed him, I was cut off from any retreat and captured. Lucky thing Valen found me then, eh?" I playfully elbowed said demon in the ribs. He grunted, but I could tell he wasn't displeased.

Nathyrra wanted to hear more though. "That's all you're going to tell me?" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "You really suck at telling stories." I sighed and moved to walk past her, eager to leave and find a real bed to lay down in, but the slight assassin blocked my path to the door, the stubborn look in her eyes a sure sign that I wouldn't get past her so easily.

"'Thyrra," I groaned, "Wring the rest out of Valen, I'd like at least a few hours of Reverie before we leave." I tried to give her the biggest puppy eyes my aching head could handle.

"Leave?" Nathyrra asked, wrinkling her brow in confusion and ignoring my silent pleading. "Ceald, we have to give praise to the Goddess."

My jaw quirked. "What?"

"Mother Seer has declared a…" Nathyrra hesitated and said something in drow I didn't understand. "_Sulloth Dair_," she said again. "It's like a… a feast… thing." The drow was clearly irritated with the lack of the right Common word.

"You mean like a festival?" I offered. She perked up at that immediately.

"That's the word! It's a festival, with food and costumes and dancing!" The assassin positively glowed as she talked about it.

I couldn't keep the images of drow considered good fun out of my head though. I pictured some sort of orgiastic sacrifice and lots of spiders all over, maybe a contest tent with a sign that read 'murder your neighbor, get a head (which would really be just what the dopey pun intended to be and contestants actually went home with their neighbor's head) .). "Drow have festivals?" I asked, my nose crinkling in revulsion.

Nathyrra glared at me. "Don't look like that! It's not what you think!" she said, defensively adding, "_Sulloth Dair _only happens every few years. It's a day that all rivalries are set aside to celebrate!" Confused, I simply shook my head. We were fighting a war, and the rebels wanted to stop and celebrate a magic peace day?

"But shouldn't we be getting ready to march?" I asked Valen, hoping the demon would help stop such nonsense. I know I sounded like a prude, but there was the little fact that I was under a fucking geas to kill the Valsharess. Twiddling my thumbs was not exactly and option I wanted to take here.

"Two days aren't going to make a difference, not in the Underdark," Valen said, "Whoever the Valsharess uses for scrying must already know that she's lost here. So our advantage is already lost and we may as wait until the rebels are well-rested and ready to fight again." He shrugged. "Besides, it will take a week of steady marching to even reach the caves. There's no advantage to be gained." The demon quieted for a moment, then said, "Remember, this is one of the few victories these rebels and the Seer have had in the last year. Let them celebrate."

As if Valen's gentle admonishment wasn't enough to sway me, Nathyrra chimed in too. "And you forget that we're drow, Ceald," Nathyrra said. "This isn't one of your surface wars. This is politics. The Valsharess has suffered the first major defeat of her fledgling empire. We have to give the families allied withto her time to question her authority, and to pull out all the units and resources they can before we arrive. In fact, the extra days serve to our advantage, not hers."

I sighed, knowing I was beat. "Have fun then," I said, turning to go.

"What?" Nathyrra grabbed my arm, pulling me back towards her. "No, you have to come!"

"It's to honor you, Ceald," Valen said softly. I glanced up at the demon but his eyes were downcast and he seemed focused on something else. I looked at Nathyrra, the question evident on my face.

She grinned. "What, you think we don't know the exact reason we won today?"

I hesitated, then gave in, my shoulders slumping. "I'll go," I said with a nod. Nathyrra made the single girliest noise I had ever heard come out of her and clapped her hands in glee. Shocked by the sudden bout of insanity she seemed to suffer from I jerked away from her, looking towards Valen to confirm she had actually just done that but the demon was gone. I thought about his downcast eyes and withdrawn stance, wondering what had been going through his mind just then.

Nathyrra leaned close, chattering excitedly and causing my attention to snap back to her. "The preparations have started already, though the true celebration is tomorrow _nox_," Nathyrra was saying, using the drow word for the Underdark's rest time. "I don't think I'll have time to find you a real costume by then, but I'm sure we can do something better than those gray rags you wear." Were I not so tired, I would have stiffened and glared at her since I _liked_ my gray rags, but right then I didn't care. Wanting only to lay down and rest, I swayed visibly.

That got her attention. "Wow," she said, something new that I couldn't place in her tone, "You really did exhaust yourself." I nodded, letting my tiredness seep into my face. She seemed to take the hint. "I want to get the details from Valen, will you be okay getting to Maevirr on your own?"

"Yeah," I said, finally free to leave. I nodded farewell to her and left opposite the door she came in. I stood in a colonnade that framed a small rock garden filled with phosphorent fungi. I could see the glowing tower in the distance, the entire length of the city between us.

The prospect of hoofing it across the city was daunting. I was more likely to fall asleep halfway then make it there myself. Fortunately I had a quicker alternative.

"I'll be right back," I promised Oerth as I tugged him from my shoulder and set him on the garden bench. My familiar was smart enough to figure out what I was doing. He tucked his wings back and settled down to wait. Digging into my pouch once more, I fumbled for the Relic. Concentrating, I felt my fingers graze it and I pulled the strange object out.

The Relic was a twisted lump of something that felt like a cross between leather and rock, with four gemstones embedded in the surface. I tapped my thumb on the emerald in the center.

My world didn't so much shift as… unravel. The walls of the temple sloughed away, replaced by the ruins of some great building surrounded by a vast wasteland. I took a shallow breath, loathing the sulfuric taste of the air here. A red, soot-filled sky stretched out to the mountains in the distance, though the plains were so flat I had no idea how far the mountains actually were. Not that I ever cared to find out. This world was dead, burned by some great cataclysm long ago. Only this last little remnant had survived. A hot, harsh wind swept over the ruins. I flinched away from the grit and dust it carried, moving deeper into the ruins until I reached the circle at the center. Arches of blackened stone and crumbling pillars formed enough of a barrier to offer some protection from the scouring winds of the wasteland. In this circle was also the only other being I'd ever encountered on this plane.

A low thrum and an underlying sound reminiscent of buzzing flies grew louder the closer I got to the circle. Turning past the last ruined wall, I stepped into the ring of glowing portals. All save one were darkened niches, the glowing sigils above the frames the only sign they still functioned. The last portal was a flickering wall of static. That one only the dead could pass through.

In the center of the circle there was a little raised pool. Black water rippled in the basin though nothing disturbed the surface. Next to the well stood the Reaper, who, as far as I could tell, was the sovereign ruler of the Gatehouse. Ebony robes covered the Reaper from head to foot, a thick black cowl masking most of its face. Its gender, if it had one, I didn't know. The last time I had seen it I thought that it was remarkably similar to Cavallas, but seeing the Reaper again made me dismiss that notion. Where Cavallas bowed and hissed and cringed under its mass of raggy black, the Reaper stood stoic and silent, regal, hands clasped together in its sleeves.

"Greetings, Sojourner." I shivered at the Reaper's voice as I strode into the ring of portals. It conjured images of rusted metal paring flesh. The creature turned its cowl towards me, revealing only a blank, metallic surface where the face should be. The fires of the wasteland behind glinted off of it. "What brings you to the land of the dead?"

"Not dead yet," I muttered, unable to keep my eyes from flicking over to the Well. The murky depths parted for a moment and I saw the corpse of a drowned woman floating in the water, her black hair fanning out and merging almost seamlessly with the beautiful kimono that drifted around her. She had been there the last time I gazed in the Well too.

"Is there some way I may serve you, Sojourner?" the Reaper asked when I didn't say anything more.

I jerked my eyes away from the dead woman. "Yes, Reaper. I need to return to Faerun." It nodded. "To my rooms in Tower Maevirr," I added. The Reaper raised one long arm, its sleeve dangling over the hand, wordlessly pointing to a glowing sigil to its left. The space below the sigil swirled and darkened from gray to black.

"Farewell, Sojourner," the Reaper said as I hurried through the gate. The world unraveled again, the black of the portal washing away the ruins and replacing them with the familiar, dull, sandy brick of my room in the Maevirr tower. My room was stately, if small, with lavish decorations and a positively opulent bed, which was covered in red silk sheets and festooned with pillows. I set Assanti aside with my quiver, but resisted the urge to flop down on the bed just yet.

"_Yesrs, Oerth_," I incanted, summoning my familiar to me. Magic runes shimmered around my shoulders and I felt the fairy dragon's weight settle about my neck. I walked over to an ornate basin and washed my face. It would take a lot more than just a little water to get clean, but it did lessen the feel of grime somewhat. Oerth leapt from my shoulder and landed in the basin with a splash as I turned away. Grinning at the sound of water sloshing as it spilled onto the floor, I tugged my belt free and tossed my Bag of Holding next to the dais. The bag slid too far and tumbled off the raised platform with a clatter, but I was too tired to care.

I kicked off my boots and fell face first into bed, shimmying out of my pants as I wormed my way towards the pillows at the top. Pulling the sheets up, I closed my eyes and rolled over, reveling in the feel of silk twisting over my bare skin. Tyr's heart, I was exhausted. I felt pressure land on my legs and I whipped down to grab my familiar and cuddle him close. The tiny dragon made a very un-dragon like squawk and squirmed about to get free, his butterfly wings tickling my face. Laughing, I let him go, cracking one eye open to see him move to another pillow and flop down with an adorable, little dragon yawn. His yawn was contagious, and I stretched back and nearly cracked my jaw with the force of it. That yawn wrung the last bit of energy I had.

I fell into deep reverie with thoughts of a red-haired, sky-blue eyed demon, who'd give me soft smiles and wrap his arms around my waist.

--+--

So yeah. Ceald tends to miss a lot of obvious cues.


End file.
